Gin and Kin
by Materia-Blade
Summary: After the final battle with Beryl, Usagi is left alone, her friends dead beyond recall. Her identity revealed, she hides as a phychiatrist. For a time, there was peace. The pain, ebbing. Then, a lonely redhaired girl stumbled into her office... Ra/SM, AU
1. Start

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**Disclaimer:**** Don't own Ranma ½ or Sailor Moon.**

**Author's Note: **

**This assumes that anything that happened in the Sailor Moon Anime past the point of Beryl did not happen. No Moonlight Knight. (Thank god, He's worse then Tux!) This is an Alternate Universe fic diverging at the point where Beryl is defeated. **

**Since I'm generally a post-cannon man, this is a new one for me. Hope you all enjoy. I'm going for epic on this one so no quick chapters. Sorry bout that. Looking for a pre-reader too.**

**Oh? Did I mention it's a fukufic? Will be anyways. My first. Hope ya like!**

**And now, on with the story! Prepare to have your little eyes drama-d out. This is gonna be a sad one.  
**

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_**Every right begets a wrong.  
For every young there is an old.  
Every silence begets a song.  
For every silver there is a…**_

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**-Gin and Kin**_-_  
**-Start-  
**

* * *

_-Three Months Ago-_

"Boy, you're obsessing." Read the strange sign held by a tall, wide panda watching his, or more accurately _it's,_ female son jab repeatedly at the air in an intricate pattern.

"Who cares?" She retorted snidely, having come to accept the wooden signs as nigh on clear speech these days. "Thought you'd be proud, pop."

The Panda looked down at his folded paws in a remorseful way. "I am! Er… I would be, but…"

"Just lay off, Oya—" Ranma bit her lip, and gave a sad sigh. "Otousan."

Even Ranma, as depressed as she was at the moment, couldn't stave off the chuckle the image of a panda with a gaping dropped maw brought to her lips.

"I'll be fine. I'm… heh heh… I'm Ranma Saotome. I don't lose." He said.

Despite the finality of her statement, Ranma didn't really feel the usual burst her pride should have gotten from that. Nothing seemed to be normal anymore.

It took almost five minute for the panda to get its head screwed on straight after that one. It did sooner or later though, and the solemn mood returned to the dojo, along with the sounds of lightning fast kicks and punches that targeted unwitting air molecules.

The panda sighed and pulled out a sign and began writing.

"Ranma, I know I'm not the best fath… heh… old man…"

"Got that one right." Ranma muttered.

THUMP!

"I'm being serious here!" The sign which had just caused the huge welt on Ranma's skull read next.

Ranma grumbled. "Bein' serious don't have'ta hurt so much…" She mumbled under her breath, this time not loud enough for the enigmatic panda to hear, whilst rubbing her head.

"Ranma." The next sign was decidedly astute and Ranma had the impression that she could hear her father saying the words being written, in his sometimes serious tone.

"You're, well… You're my boy Ranma. The only boy I got. I maybe didn't do the best job but... I think ya' turned out pretty good in spite of me. Ranma. I don't know what I would do if I lost you, son. So, no matter what, you'll always be m'boy to me. Just needed to… to let you know."

All of that was written in four signs that struck Ranma with their heartfelt words and message. "Pops…"

Suddenly a loud rumble echoed from the Panda's stomach ruining the moment utterly. "I'm… I'm gonna go get some bamboo!" The panda's next sign read. "Kasumi has a great batch from the North-Western Chinese region today!"

And with that the panda, a large sweat-drop trailing the back of his head, left Ranma alone, staring at the door.

"Pops…" She murmured again, touched. "Th-thanks pops." She whispered to herself.

Her father was usually little more than an eccentric, bald, overbearing, annoying, idiot, who, on rare occasion, had a decent trick up his sleeve. But… every now and then he proved that he really did care about his son.

Daughter…

A tear came dangerously close to leaking from her eye and the red-head blinked quickly. "Dammit." She breathed, slamming her hard fist into the ground. She knelt and then looked up. The roof was in her way but it didn't stop her from talking to her intended bane of existence. "Why me…?"

God did not answer her, nor did she care to wait for him to do so. But she did have words form him. "Guess I should be thankful… without the curse… I'd already be dead." She murmured to herself ruefully. The words didn't make her feel one bit better about all this, no matter how true they were.

She returned to her rigorous training, telling herself over and over again she should be thankful for the scapegoat from reality her curse had become.

'Do I even want to live on like this though…? Knowing that… that this is it… for the rest of my life?' She thought. In truth she was afraid, on both accounts. Afraid of dying. Afraid of surviving but never being able to return to her original form.

'Akane. You'll lose Akane.' She thought to herself.

She shivered unwillingly. It had been a shock to find that the biggest fear she received from knowing that she could no longer become male, was not the loss of her masculinity, but was the _resulting_ loss of Akane as her fiancée.

At the rate Akane was going now, her gender wouldn't matter anyway. The girl had been in a coma for the past two weeks ever since Saffron. She was fading too, and Ranma didn't know what to do. The burns were extensive but healing apparently. Even if they didn't heal, that didn't matter to Ranma.

At a complete loss, nothing new for her considering the past few weeks, Ranma walked to the shrine at the far end of the dojo and did something she'd never seen herself doing. She light the incense sticks and knelt.

"God… Or ancestors? Or… well anyone who listens to this frequency… I know… I know ya like pickin' on me a lot. But… I got no one else to turn to. I… I wanna ask you ta help Akane. I want her to wake up! I need to see her smile again! Hear her laugh… Ask her advice…"

A tear really did trail down her eye this time. "Tell her I… I love her."

The incense smell filled the room and Ranma felt a nostalgic wave pass through her reminding her of all the temples and shrines she'd trained at over the years. Reminding her of Soun, too, and his prayers.

The red-head prayed on after taking a moment to collect her thoughts and her words. "Y-you can do whatever ya' want to me. I don't mind, as long as she… makes it. O-okay? Not just for me either… her family's fallin' to pieces. An' Ryoga too! He loves her, an he ain't afraid to say it like I am… even Kuno. And her… she… she deserves to live! It was my fault she got involved with all that crap anyways. So… so please help her. O-okay? Uhm… That's all."

Feeling incredibly awkward, Ranma stood and ceased the burning incense. Looking at the small clock, a new addition to the dojo, and reading the time, she made to leave the wooden room. It was visiting time.

As she opened the door to the dojo she suddenly heard a high pitched squeal. Turning back and looking across the room, Ranma saw nothing out of the ordinary. She shrugged and made to close the door.

Suddenly, a full blown squeal, much louder then the one before, and undeniably familiar, echoed throughout the dojo as a small black piglet charged forward, screeching bloody murder.

"R-Ryoga!?"

The pig lunged jumping directly at Ranma faster than even her uncanny reflexes could dodge… and… hugged her?

"Ryoga?" She mouthed again, looking down at the small piglet on her shoulder bawling its eyes out there.

Shock took her for a moment and the sheer surreal magnitude of the situation. After a moment to get her bearings straight, Ranma let her arms take a place, resting the piglet beneath them as Akane might have done.

"I know Ryoga… I'm sorry… buddy…" She cooed, petting the small animal that had once been her most embittered rival.

The squealing calmed slightly, but still the piglet cried on, taking comfort in Ranma for the first time in recorded history.

It was a moment or two before either moved; Ranma finally broke the strange moment. "Come on Ryoga. I'd get you some hot water but… Well… It's dangerous, and I don't think anyone else knows about this form of yours." She said sadly.

The pig, it's eyes still wet, nodded and then looked directly at the street pointing towards the hospital.

Ranma couldn't help but chuckle as she pointed in a different direction. "That way, idiot. I'll take you."

"Ranma! Ranma come quick! It's Akane! She woke up!" Came a sudden exclamation from the middle Tendo sister.

"R-really!?" Both Ranma and Ryoga's eyes shone with a hope neither had felt in two weeks.

"They just called us! C-come on! T-Take me! You're the fastest way there… I… I gotta see my baby sister…" Nabiki said, in a very unusual manner for said girl. Then she approached him rapidly wrapping a hand around his shoulder. "C-come on!" She gulped, yet still insisted all the same.

Nothing _at all_ seemed to be normal any more.

But…

Ranma looked to the sky for just a moment. "Maybe… maybe you really aren't all that bad…" She murmured.

"Ran—? OOF!" Nabiki exclaimed as she was scooped into the martial artist's hands, P-chan sliding from one shoulder to the other to avoid Nabiki's caressing arm; Ranma leapt dashing like his life depended on it to the hospital

* * *

-Sixteen Years Ago- 

"My… M'Lady. The Crystal. It's… It's gone." Said the solemn voice of an elderly servant.

The woman, middle aged in appears shook involuntarily as her hands moved to her eyes.

"M-M'lady?" The servant quivered.

The woman's shoulders shook even more and a sob escaped from the finely honed cold exterior she'd shone for the past twenty millennia or so.

"Finally…" She whispered, hands buried in her face, as she sank to her knees.

"My Lady!" The servant exclaimed, trying to understand what was happening.

"Rubos… I'm… I'm finally free… After so long… so long… I'm…"

"Not quite yet." Came a harsh male voice, also appearing around his middle ages.

"Tai-sama!" The woman exclaimed, first in shock. Then again in utter elation. "TAI-SAMA!!"

She dashed to the man in full-scaled, black, battle armor, his black hair hanging loosely and short about his head. A symbol of a crescent moon resided in the middle of his forehead, shining a brilliant silver as radiant as the ore itself in its purest form.

In her rush she grapple the man, he not even unbalanced in the slightest by her full weight slamming into him.

"Tai-sama…" The woman wept, crying into his cold, hard armor.

It took some time, but the man did find a way to circle his hands around her tiny, tall form; her black hair cascaded down and fell over a white dress that had not faded, been dirtied, or changed in the past quarter of a hundred thousand years she'd worn it.

"Mai…" He breathed heavily. "Mai… You haven't changed a bit…"

Mai pulled away, anguished at the inches she was forced to move from her heart to stare up into his eyes. "You got hairier." She giggled, running her nimble fingers along the stubble he had all about his face.

The man grimaced, but looked at her affectionately. "Mai… I finally awoke maybe a fifth of a rotation ago. Just now… Just now, the Crystal… it's gone I assume? Yes… It let me free.

"What does this mean, Tai-sama?" Mai asked, staring into his eyes still.

The servant Rubos looked on in joy as his Mistress was finally reunited with the love of her life. A joyous day indeed.

The man in armor sighed looking at the woman and closed his eyes. Drinking in the questioned. His mind thought Then he began to recite a poem.

"_First child to keep,_

_Eversilver sleep,_

_The father who held,_

_The mother to weep._

_Last child to seal,_

_Er'gold bastille,_

_The father who held,_

_Till reborn beau ideal."_

Mai looked at the man she loved with a half lidded stare. "What under the Leian Sky does _that_ mean?" She half-shouted at the man.

"It means, my dear, that I can… no… _we _can finally get our long awaited revenge… The crystal has gone to find its master. All we must do is find it… then finally we can have our revenge." Said the man with a sinister smile.

Mai didn't understand why. Her memories of ages past were little more than vague glimpses. But for some reason, her heart leapt with as much joy at the thought of revenge as it had with the sight of Tai.

'But… who?' She thought sadly, wishing she could remember who's throat it was she so desperately wanted to slit. 'Who?'

* * *

_-Three Months Ago-_

They arrived at the hospital in record time, not bothering to use doors or getting feeble things such as doctor's permission to enter, simply jumping through the second story window of the room Akane lay in.

"Akane!? Akane!" Both Nabiki and Ranma shouted in synch. P-chan squealed his usual bwee for added effect.

And there she was. She sat there, staring down at her hands in wonder. Her eyes were glistening in confusion and a plethora of other emotions Ranma couldn't have understood if he'd been born a girl. Bandages covered her everywhere and her hair had been cut to a slim crop, less than half its old length. Oddly, that had fascinated Ranma when he'd first seen her.

"A-Akane-chan!" Nabiki screamed. She dashed forward, after struggling out of Ranma's arms ungratefully and pouncing atop her younger sister.

"Nabiki?" Ranma exclaimed in surprise as she watched Nabiki weep on her sister's shoulder. It was the first time Ranma had ever seen the unflappable middle Tendo bawl. Over the past few days, she'd seen the girl cry. A tear here, a wince there… but this…

Akane smiled and grappled her elder sister, wrapping her arms around the older girl. The smile wasn't a happy one.

"A-Akane… You can't die… you can't scare us like that!" Nabiki sniffed untidily but she plowed on, backing up to stare into her little sister's eyes.

Akane's face hung down as Nabiki yelled but that only served to irate the girl further. "Well!? A-are you gonna say somethin'? I… was so worried, I… A-Akane…?"

Ranma just watched, beaming at the girl, a hand across her heart, breathing in relief such that she had never known, even after she woke up for those few moments after Saffron was defeated. She was awake… she was alive! She…

"A-Akane… what's wrong with your neck? Th-there weren't any bandages there yes… ter…" She followed Akane's gaze and found at the door a solemn looking man she'd become quite familiar with.

"Dr. Aikawa! Wh-what is… What happened!?" Nabiki asked frantically.

The doctor gave a long sigh. He was a chubby short man, quite the opposite of Dr. Tofu in every way save competence. And he was competent, as he had shown in saving the girl's life, at least, not to mention how collected he kept himself when faced with Ranma's own unique problem. Now, only in his late twenties, he looked a tired old man of fifty. "I'm… sorry, Ms. Tendo. Mr. Saotome. We… we were so busy trying to heal the extensive burn damage to her body that we only found out about this when she… when she woke up."

Akane only looked on, silently.

"Akane!? T-tomboy? What's wrong?" Ranma asked, desperately. "She's alright now? Right doc? She's okay! She woke up! She finally woke up! So… so everything's okay now!? Right?" Ranma realized she was practically begging as she looked from her tomboy to the doctor and back again but she didn't care.

"Bwee!!!" Came Ryoga's ecstatic yet similar squeal.

Akane's face went from silent and somber to tomboy in an instant as she glared death at Ranma and launched a random magazine at Ranma.

Ranma didn't even think of dodging. The impact blew her face back but she managed to keep her footing, a red mark imbedded straight up her face.

Even so, the girl was leaping in joy inside. Her tomboy was a-oh-kay!

She recoiled and stared straight expecting to see the killing face of her fiancée and hear a "Ranma no baka!" any minute… but…

"Mr. Saotome. Akane's… we don't really understand how it happened… but… her vocal cords have been completely… I… I don't really know how to explain it. They've been erased. Not burned, or torn out… just… erased. As if they never existed. I… there's no easy way to say this… Your fiancée will never speak again, Ranma."

With those words Ranma's entire world dropped. "A… Akane… I…"

Ranma stared into her fiancées eyes. The anger that had been there before had melted away into a cold, bitter face that looked simply… unnatural on the uncu… dammit… on the face of the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

She took a step back… then another. There was no blame in Akane's eyes but Ranma felt there was. She felt the weight of Akane's affliction on her shoulders a hundred fold. Her own troubles… her own suffering… what did that matter?

She would've sliced her own hand off to hear a "Ranma no baka…" that minute. What was gender when…?

The red-head slumped to the floor staring shamefully at her feet. What could she do? How could she possibly make this up to…?

"I-Its… all my fault…" Ranma murmured.

"Nnnn…" was the sound that emanated from Akane's lips. It was a hiss created by air rushing through her teeth, but it definitely signaled the negative.

Ranma looked up to find chocolate brown eyes staring back at her. They weren't sad eyes. They were…

The girl pushed Nabiki off herself slightly. Despite the bandages she swung her legs over the bed and placed her burned, bandaged, feet on the cold tile floor.

"A-Akane! Y-you can't be up and walking around yet! L-lay back—!" Ranma tried, rising to her knees.

Akane promptly silenced her with a swift chop through the air that quite plainly stated 'shut up.' Then she left herself stand and found Nabiki with a gentle hand on her back.

Ranma stood and came to the taller girl looking up into her eyes. "I…Gomen… Akane… I…"

Suddenly, Akane grappled him in a hug so fierce that Ranma felt the wind knocked out of her for a moment.

"Akane!" "Imouto!" Came two desperate shouts from behind the doctor standing in the doorway.

Akane looked at the doctor and then over her shoulder to Nabiki. Her mouth opened but nothing came forth.

The doctor didn't understand the gesture but Nabiki knew her sister well enough to know what the girl wanted.

She hopped off the bed, staring at her younger sister. 'Poor Akane-chan…' she thought sadly. "D-do you… need some paper or something? Mr. Aikawa. We need to leave them alone for a few minutes… You too, Daddy. Kasumi." Nabiki said as she moved to fetch the paper pad lying on a nearby table filled with assorted doctor's equipment.

Soun, and Genma right behind, were standing there staring at their two affianced children hugging, in ethereal bliss. If they'd known all it would take to get them together was a life threatening situation they'd've done it sooner!

Then their children's tears registered in their minds and the sinking feeling only a parent seeing their child's pain could understand melded into their conscience. No… they wouldn't.

Nabiki lay the pen and pad down on the bed and shuffled past the two. "Talk things out okay? Ranma… don't blame yourself. Akane doesn't."

Akane gave what might have been considered a beam to her sister; Ranma gave a hopeful glance and a curt nod.

"Lets go guys… they need some time… You too pig breath." Nabiki exclaimed, scooping up an irate pig on her way to the door prodding the doctor, martial artist, and homemaker out of the small room.

Ranma and Akane didn't part until they were gone and for a time, ages it seemed, they did little but stare into each others eyes.

"Akane… I'm… so sorry. You probably hate me right now… don't you?" Ranma started.

Akane's abrupt left to right head shake didn't faze Ranma.

"Y-you have too! I… I'd hate me if this happened… I-if only I'd been a little faster! Or… or if I hadn't gotten involved in the first place! I should've… should've just—!" Akane's middle and index finger covered the teary eyed red-head's mouth and she met Akane's eyes in confusion.

Akane hobbled the two steps it took to get back to the bed and moved to lay down in it, picking up the pen and paper as she did so.

Ranma didn't know what to do. Akane suddenly began writing on the pad as soon as she lay down.

Ranma moved closer and let his hands hover on the bedside. He knelt down to be at eye level with her when suddenly she turned the pad to him.

"Is it true?" she read. "Is what you said on the mountain true?"

Ranma looked from the paper back to Akane. A moment of fear… anxiety so strong the red-head thought she might faint, but she had no choice now.

She nodded. "Y-yeah… Akane I… l-love you. I—!"

Akane dive-bombed the red-head. Ranma only caught a glimpse of the blue haired girl's face before it was buried in her shoulder, but on that face had been written the most beautiful smile Ranma had ever seen.

A few moments she lay there, quivering; Ranma didn't have _any_ clue what she was supposed to do. Fortunately, Akane made the decision for her. She backed up, a wide, yet sad smile brimmed across her face, burning Ranma's worries and fears into dust. Akane was… was happy.

She opened her mouth. No words came forth but, Ranma thought she could imagine the words that flowed off the silent lips.

Ranma needed no words. Needed no male form, either. She didn't need anything except for what she already had. Akane was Akane was Akane… was _her_ Akane. That was all that ever mattered.

Their lips locked for what they both felt was the first true kiss they'd ever had, arms flailing around the other in a passionate embrace, as Ranma lay the older girl down onto her pillow.

Only then did Ranma realize that this _was_ the first real kiss they'd ever had, and yet they were currently the same gender. It struck an odd chord in her for a moment before thought or rationalization was completely driven from her mind.

The kiss lasted an eternity that seemed far too short when it finally ended. Their embrace became a hug as Ranma's lips moved to whisper the words she'd so long wished to say over and over again into the taller girl's ear.

It was at that very moment that suddenly, the bright shinning day that had been sending warmth and radiating light through the window, darkened. The sky brewed over into pitch darkness during the middle of the day, and the entire world was blanketed in a sheet of black.

Neither Ranma, nor Akane, noticed for quite some time

* * *

_-Two Months and Three Weeks Ago-_

"Saotome…" Said the gender-cursed dragon king. He rolled it on his tongue as if cultivating a warm memory from his mind and replaying it over and over in his head. "I must say I'm quite a bit more fond of that gender then your male one." Mirth was clearly evident across Herb's tone.

"Yeah yeah… laugh it up…" Ranma sighed. "I'm serious though, Herb. If… If you don't let me have some of the water from the Chisuiton then… then I'll die. I've had too many close calls already and… I'm not ready to go yet."

Herb placed his fingers to his forehead, shoulders shaking with the effort he placed into not laughing.

It took several moments, Ranma staring down at her feet, standing affront the thrown Herb sat on, deep in the Musk Territory of China.

But recover he did. With surprising seriousness the multi-hair-colored man stared down at the red-head and spoke. "So often do I recall your fighting spirit when I am bored or lonely. The undying power in you that refuses to give up or give in."

Ranma looked on, confused, but stared defiantly, wondering where it was her old enemy was going with this.

The man gave a smile and stood, pacing slowly towards her. Ranma felt the power the man exuded and shivered. It was more then her own; it always had been. Only her ingenuity had saved her during their final battle back in Japan.

When he stood a mere four feet from Ranma, Herb bowed low. "You are a noble man… woman I suppose, Saotome. And you saved my life, I who sought nothing more then your destruction. A debt is owed. A debt repayed. Mint!" He exclaimed. "The Chisuiton!"

The bumbling speedy body guard materialized almost faster then even Ranma could see, holding the ladle. Ranma couldn't help but flinch, visibly.

Herb noticed Ranma's reaction instantly. "You don't want this… do you?" He asked. "Men like you and I do not fear death. And you… _do fear _this."

"I… I want… I have to live, Herb. I… She… It's for a girl. I… I love her." Ranma tried to say.

"Ah, that. It's that Tendo girl you were with that day isn't it? I never understood it. It still confuses me Saotome-san." Herb said, stopping the red-head while simultaneously easing the tension.

"I… I hope you do understand it… a least a little better someday." Ranma replied.

Herb nodded and took the Chisuiton from his subordinate who promptly disappeared.

Silence reigned for a time. Both staring at the instrument. "Ranma… You know this is permanent. The Kaisuifuu was destroyed. You remember that… If… if you do this, there is no turning back."

Ranma, eyes staring only at the ladle before her, nodded grimly with a gulp. Her stomach was fluttering and not in a good way.

"Tell me why. What happened to you Ranma? What malady afflicts your natural born form? And how?" Herb asked resignedly. "Otherwise I will not give it to you."

Ranma closed her eyes as the memories came unbidden of her battle with Saffron. All the fire she'd torn herself through. All the blasts. Freezing herself. Burning. She didn't want to go through those memories. Didn't want to recall the story again. But what choice did she have?

"The phoenix Saffron… ever heard of 'im? Turns out his fire doesn't only burn people's outsides. I fought the bastard bird for over twenty minutes, all of that in male form." Ranma said sharply.

Herb was, for lack of a better word, stunned.

"Wh-what!? Y-you fought… fought Saffron? H-how are you still alive?" Herb asked almost afraid of the Saotome before him.

"Cuz' he ain't." Ranma replied tartly. "But he left me a present."

Herb raised a steady eyebrow. "How? How could you possibly have survived even a single blast from Saffron's fire? No Human could take one. They'd be incinerated! _I_ couldn't survive one!" the dragon prince exclaimed.

"I'm the best! What can I say?" Ranma replied steadily. At Herb's nigh on glare Ranma's confidence relented. "Alright. I had a hand or two… Gekkaja, the ice staff, was a big one. The other was the Phoenix Pill I'd taken a long time ago. Ever heard of it? Turns out it makes my outer body almost impervious to flame. What it don't do is give my lungs the same bonus. My male side has Internal Burns that are so bad that if I stay a guy for more than a day now I'll… I'll be dead." Ranma said, slowly becoming solemn.

"I… I'm sorry, my friend." Herb replied in as straight a tone as he could manage.

Somberly, Ranma met the eyes of her one-time-rival. "Yeah… gettin' that a lot lately. The pill delayed the damage. Took a week for me to even start feeling symptoms. Without it I probably wouldn't've made it through three of the damn bird's 'Big Ball Blasts' so I count myself lucky."

"And… you changed to your cursed form and…"

"Felt right as rain. Cept the whole 'not-a-guy' thing. Internal damage don't transfer. Somethin' to remember if ya ever get run through, eh?" Ranma barked with a wry laugh.

Herb looked on in sadness at his former rival. "Your life has always been this way, hasn't it? Always the next biggest? The next best fight?"

Ranma gave a smile. "Yeah. Yeah it is. Doubt it stops here. 'Sides, I'll get used to it!"

It wasn't the girl's confident 'I never lose' grin that Ranma Saotome had once given him, long ago, but Herb saw the makings of one. Ranma was Ranma. An enigma and a half. And the first mortal Herb had ever admired.

"Ranma. I'm… sorry things turned out like this again. I ask one more time. Are you _certain?_"

Ranma only gave one final nod, and her eyes only watered over long enough for Herb to _think_ he saw something. "Th-thanks, Herb." She knelt down to the water that flowed through the prince's court room and sighed, dipping the ladle in.

She stood, the ladle full and murmured. "K-kuso…" She shut her eyes tight, still futilely praying that this was all a dream. That just before the water fell she would wake up and it would all just be one long, long, nightmare. She raised the ladle slowly and tear-streams fell down her face.

Her eyes shut even tighter as she tipped the ladle. All her hopes. All her dreams, disappearing like dust in the wind, with that one splash. 'God… please…'

And it was done.

The ladle fell from her hands, hollow clanking on the stone ground before her, and after that, silence. An eternity of silence stretched on before Ranma could finally open her eyes. She made no sounds but the tears falling down her eyes gave no illusion as to how horrid this was.

"Ranma…" Herb murmured. He approached the girl, closer still, and embraced her awkwardly.

Ranma didn't move, but the hand that had been over her head, fell across the tall prince's shoulders.

Her weeping lasted for long hours into the night, but she never said a word.

* * *

_-Two Months Two Weeks and Five Days Ago-_

Two days since Ranma had ended her masculinity forever. Two days of adapting. There was something odd about being a girl now. Her balance wasn't off and she didn't act differently, she knew. But knowing now, that she would look this way for the rest of her life, had caused her to reexamine the way she acted as a girl. Before it had been a mask. Nothing more, nothing less. A skin that covered the real her. Feminine Modesty? Phaw. What need did a mask have of feminine modesty?

But now…

Many things like that had arisen in her mind. Thoughts of what would happen now? Thoughts of scamming food. Scamming Ryoga. Thoughts of running the dojo. Thoughts of never being able to have a child of her own. That was a large one too, surprisingly enough.

Thoughts of… boys even. Disgusted thoughts, of course, but still thoughts. She'd never been in a position to be bothered by that before. Now though…

But above and beyond all of that, was Akane. Akane. Always the tomboy was foremost in her thoughts and dreams. Fear of rejection. Anticipation of the relationship. Worry over guilt about her lost voice.

Her thoughts were utter turmoil.

She stood at the edge of the Musk Territory. Herb stood behind her, having seen her off on her way. It was a short trip now. Only a mere week back to Nerima, where before it had taken almost a month. She was far better fit than she had been the last time they crossed into China.

"Well… this is where I'll be leaving you, Saotome." Herb said, in a tone that sounded almost sad.

Ranma looked up at the only man who she'd ever allowed to see her cry before and smiled. "Gonna miss cute lil' ole me, Herb-chan!?" Ranma exclaimed in a cutesy voice that she'd begun to use to lighten moods instead of mooch free food for the past few days.

"Drop the act, Saotome. You're quite pathetic at it." Herb said without thought.

Ranma's fake smile dropped into a strained yet real one. "See through it that easy now, eh? Well… I'll miss you, Herb. And… thanks… for everything."

They'd only spent two days together but they'd developed a quite close friendship, especially considering the circumstances of their first meeting. Ranma was more than glad to note that she felt no attraction for the boy whatsoever. Sure she'd never felt attraction for a boy before and didn't really expect to but… knowing that she was a girl now. That she had no choice… she'd been… worried.

Herb felt much the same. He knew what Ranma had been, and what she was. It was… comforting for him, to have a friend. An equal, even though the boy… girl… would only live a short time when compared with his own many years.

"Any time, Ranma. Any time. Oh… before you leave."

Herb took out and handed the Chisuiton to the red-head and pressed it into her palm. "Keep this, Saotome. I have no use for it. Honestly, I fear it. It would be safer with one it could not affect. And this," Herb yanked a small golden chain from around his neck with a small locket on it. "You're the first mortal I've ever admired in my long years, Saotome-san. Give it to Miss Tendo as a gift."

Ranma stared at the locket Herb had handed her. She opened it and gaped in awe at the blue diamond in the shape of a dragon's head within.

"S-sugoi…" Ranma exclaimed.

Ranma eyed the dragon prince speculatively but in the end, she simply shrugged pulling the necklace around her head.

Herb stiffened for only a moment, for no notable reason as she pulled it on, causing Ranma to do so as well. When nothing happened, Herb relaxed.

"I didn't think so." Herb sighed, disappointed.

"Herb?" Ranma asked, confused.

The prince smiled. "Just give it to her. Tell her it is a gift and that you got it for her in China."

Ranma stared at Herb, speculative, and then at the locket, and back again. "Alright. I trust you."

Herb grinned. "You might want to make sure you and she are alone when she puts it on."

That worried Ranma a bit. "Wh-what is it?"

Herb only smiled and replied cryptically, "Water. Nothing, but water."

* * *

_-One Month Ago-_

"Yes. I believe, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that Sailor Moon had _something_ to do with the darkness that enshrouded the world two months ago. Or stopping it, more precisely. Ever since then, I and my colleague Dr. Achrandro have been studying the strange energy signals radiating from the Juubancho ward of Tokyo for the past half a year trying to determine what the causes for these averse effects were. My finds more than simply _point_ to Sailor Moon. They make her involvement a certainty." Said a scruffy looking white bearded Caucasian in roughly broken Japanese.

"And did you find anything? Perhaps the mysterious identity of one of the Sailor Senshi?" The talk show host asked in an honestly curious voice.

'Doubt it.' Usagi thought irritably as she glared at the man on stage. She rolled on her toes to find a more comfortable position and continued staring.

Dr. Sayind and Dr. Achrandro were two men who apparently had devoted themselves to the cause of finding out what it was that had befallen the world when it was unexpectedly plunged into darkness, two months ago. They had been well respected scientists of the Juuban district so it was no surprise that people flocked to their speeches and results. Some of the results found by those two and subsequently 'hijacked' by Ami's Mercury computer had been detrimental in allowing the Senshi to access Beryl's lair.

The two doctors had, strangely, disappeared a month and a half ago with little to no trace of where they had gone. Usagi only found out all that after… after…

She cleared her head and returned her attention to the man on stage. They were smart, but it didn't matter much any more. The youma were gone. Finally…

The scruffy man cleared his throat and his voice took on a rather solemn edge. "Eh hem. I'm sorry I was unclear. We were studying the darker beings, not the senshi themselves. The strange female looking beasts that repeatedly attack the residents of Juubancho and various other areas…"

'Yeah. That's what I thought. You don't know anything.' Usagi thought. Her dry expression in her mind did nothing to alleviate her mood. Little did these days.

A sigh of disappointment blasted through the crowd of gather people. After a short pause the man continued. "…and while that was what we were studying, it inadvertently led to what we believe IS the discovery of those exact young women, and their identities. Four of them at least."

Usagi's eyes widened along with those of the rest of the crowd. "N-Nani?" She gasped.

"R-really! A-are you serious, Doctor Sayind?" Said the host, sounding genuinely surprised. "I… I know that you said this speech had special information about the youma and Senshi but…"

Usagi gulped. H-how could someone have possibly…

"Yes, I am entirely serious." He said. His tone was ice now though.

Cameras flashed everywhere and the crowd screamed for him to reveal what he and his silent partner knew. Usagi was jostled left and right with the motion of the crowd and their clamoring in front of the governmental office of Juubancho.

Usagi was almost afraid. If… if he really had found out…

She waited for the crowd to quiet as it eventually did. The man cleared his throat and finally began. "My colleague and I studied the influx of the darkness and found, after endless hours of toil on Dr. Achrandro's part, that the darkness began at the North Pole. That is where I have been these past few months.

Usagi began to quake in terror. "No… No, no, no!" In an instant she turned and began to flee through the crowd. She _had_ to get out of here. She couldn't take it… she couldn't… She just wanted to be normal! They'd died… they'd died so she…

"What we found there… I… I hope to never see the like in my life again." The man said, faltering.

Usagi was in dead run now. "Oh god. Rei! Ami-chan… what would you do? Can you ever forgive me? I don't want them to know!"

But they did. Any of the Senshi being discovered out their amongst the ice would lead anyone straight to her.

"There, amidst the snow and ice, we found… the dead bodies of four of the Sailor Senshi. Sailors, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury were all dead and frozen when we arrived. They had been that way for almost half a month. Their deaths coincided with the darkness that encircled the world."

The words stabbed Usagi in the gut like a sword made of her guilt. She stopped, struck and sunk to her knees.

"What do I do…? What do I do…? Mina… Mako… Rei… Ami…" Tears were flowing down her cheeks like twin waterfalls. She'd hoped… that maybe they hadn't really died. Maybe they faded away and lived on. Would be reborn, or lived on in her. She'd felt them, so sure she had, when she finally destroyed Beryl. "Mamoru… What do I do?"

A gasp had gone through the crowd and suddenly silence reigned throughout.

"There was evidence that battle was held. Their bodies were frozen but... Dust from broken youma bodies, in the way that always happens when the Senshi defeat a youma, as everyone knows, were present for miles and miles arou—"

"I don't believe it!" An angry man shouted. "Nothing could beat the Senshi! I.. I don't believe it!"

"Yeah! The Senshi are… they've saved us so many times! There's no way…!"

"It's not possible!"

Usagi, tears dripping down her face, her heart aching, guilt piling in her throat like a physical being, smiled a sad, small smile. The people believed in them. Believed in her.

"Do you hear you guys? Everyone loves you… even though… I couldn't…" She whispered to herself over the bickering crowd hassling the poor man on stage.

Mr. Sayind sighed with the weight of his discovery.

"They are here. The bodies are here. I didn't believe it myself. I was saved by Sailor Venus not so very long ago…" He said, his words ringing with grief.

Usagi let a sob escape and it echoed across the open courtyard in front of the political building.

A few eyes turned to her, the girl sagging in utter grief slumped on the ground but not many.

"C-can we see?" A girl's voice, no older than Usagi herself.

The man turned to the crowd and gave a small smile. "They died, destroying a monster so terrifying I don't even want to imagine what it looked like. The evidence was all there. They… they were only young girls, no older than fourteen any of them. I can't show you their bodies. They are being kept… but their parents and family were informed this very morning of the actions of these brave young girls." Dr. Sayind's voice echoed across the field.

"But I will release the names. The names of yours and my heroes." The man said dramatically. "Sailor Venus, who was once known as Sailor V before the appearance of the rest of the Senshi… was a young girl named Minako Aino."

Usagi felt a flash. Everything she'd ever done with Minako. Every laugh. Every tear. Every wound. And her sorrow spread. She had been healing, but this was just tearing the wound open all over again.

'I can't stand this!' She thought haggardly in her mind. She stood again, and dashed away, exiting the main portion of the crowd and dashing up the street, her tears making fountains as she ran.

"I'm so stupid! I'm a baka! Baka, baka, baka!" She screamed to herself as she rubbed her leaking eyes while running. "All those times I cried! So stupid! If I'd only known. I'd have fought harder! Done better… not been so… so…"

Self loathing and hatred were common emotions for the blonde girl ever since they had all given their lives to see her forward. All the grief she had repressed. The calls she had listened too from Ami's mother and Rei's grandfather, wondering about their missing child.

The lies she had told.

'It should have been me… Not them…' thought her grief ridden mind.

She opened the door to her house and slammed it, running to her room as fast as she could and fell on her bed sobbing. "Rei… Mina… Ami… Mako… My friends. Why couldn't I save you…?"

Hours she thought she lay there, but in reality it was only minutes, shedding all the tears she possibly could. Luna and Artemis sat on her window-sill watching the girl, wishing there was something… anything… they could do to help.

"It shouldn't be like this Artemis… The Dark Kingdom was destroyed… Everything should be happy now. Usagi… Usagi didn't deserve this…" She whispered to the white cat beside her, her own eyes leaking tears.

Artemis let Luna lean against him in a way comfortable to both of them. "I know Luna… but… the earth is safe. That's all we need to remember."

Even as the white cat tried to sound strong for Luna's sake, his eyes glistened too.

Then the phone calls began. They'd figured it out! Her name had been given. Could she deny it? Could she say she'd had no idea that her friends were really the Sailor Senshi? Was that… right?

She crawled off her bed and into her closet, huddling in the corner in a small, pitiful ball, shedding the very last tears her eyes could bring forth.

"Usagi!"

That was Shingo. "Odango Atama!? Where are you!?" Came his almost infuriated voice.

That let out a gasp. Odango Atama. Mamoru's nickname. The sobs began to wrack her body again but she'd run out of tears.

The door slid open to reveal her brother. For a moment, just a moment, he looked angry. Until he saw her crying her eyes out.

"U-Usagi… are you…?"

Usagi stared at him for a moment, and then turned her eyes back to her knees.

"I thought… I thought it was all fun and games, Shingo. Just a… a stupid game! Play the heroine, save the day… just having fun! But… when it came down to it… I…"

"Usagi…" Shingo murmured.

"I watched them die, Shingo! I didn't do anything! I was afraid. I was… was… useless."

Shingo seemed beside himself. He wanted to say something but at the same time, didn't want to hurt her. He didn't understand. His sister was unflappable in her upbeat attitude. She always had been. Until two months ago…

Two months ago…

The small boy knelt and wrapped his arms around his only older sister.

"I… I don't really know what you're talking about sis but… but… I love you. I… I know I'm just your brat kid brother and y-you're… you're _Sailor Moon, _but…"

"Oh Shingo…" Usagi sighed dismally as she let down her knees and let her brother's small arms comfort her.

It was some time before either child moved from that spot as Usagi wept still more dry sobs onto his shoulder.

It was still more time before Ikuko and Kenji rushed into their daughter's room to find their children in the most comforting embrace they'd ever seen the two in, Usagi in a complete mess.

"U-Usagi?" Ikuko asked, watching as the two children slowly parted.

"Y-yeah, mom?" She asked, her arms still touch Shingo's shoulder.

"Rei, Ami, Makoto, and Minako… All of them were your best friends, right? You were… were together all the time…" Ikuko said, trying to puzzle out the facts.

Usagi nodded as she looked up at her mother. "They… were family mom. The best a girl could have…"

"You knew… you knew they were gone two months ago… that's why… why… god why didn't I see this all before? Honey…" Tears were leaking from the woman's eyes now. She couldn't believe it. Her daughter's best friends, all dead at the same time? It was…

"I-I'm alright mom…" Usagi toned in a dead voice. "I… I tried to… to keep my spirits up! And… To make the lives they sacrificed so I could go on… to make it worth something! I… I'll find a way… somehow…"

"Usa-chan." Kenji said comfortingly. "All this time… and we'd… always thought you were lazy…"

The light humor gave her the energy she needed to smile. That small smile was the start of her healing. She'd been able to keep a smile up since. And she could still do it, even after she was exposed. She was Usagi- Bunny of the Moon –Tsukino. And if she couldn't smile in the face of death, no one could.

"I… am lazy dad. I'm… an idiot. A coward… a fool… I let them die. All I wanted to do was run but… they still died for me. They cared… so much…" Usagi replied, hugging herself as the words spilled forth. "I wish I could be half of what they'll always be to me."

A loud crash suddenly erupted from downstairs.

"Miss Tsukino!? Are you here? Miss Tsukino-san!" Came a myriad of voices all saying the same thing, dashing about the room on the lower floors.

Ikuko's eyebrows twitched. "Dear. Take care of Usagi-chan. I'll be… handling this…"

Ikuko left the room, the usual Tsukino rage beginning to permeate her features, not to mention the air surrounding her, as the door closed.

"Dad…" Usagi said.

Shingo had taken a seat on Usagi's bed and was watching as Kenji knelt next to his daughter.

"Usagi… how did this happen?" He asked in what he hoped was a comforting voice.

Usagi met her father's eyes and began, "I-it all started when… when—"

"I found her." Luna said suddenly, interrupting Usagi.

Both Shingo and Kenji's eyes widened in shock as the cat they had known for so long spoke in the clearly distinguishable voice of a middle age woman.

"L-Luna!?" Usagi exclaimed, shocked.

"Hello, Mr. Tsukino. Shingo-san." Luna said as she jumped up onto the bed towards Shingo and then turned to meet Kenji's eyes.

"L-Luna can talk!?" Shingo exclaimed stating the obvious.

"Y-yeah." Usagi murmured.

"GET --- MY --- OUSE!" Came the muffled scream of Ikuko through the door.

A ruffled trampling of feet echoed from downstairs as terrified people ran out the door in fear or Ikuko's fury.

Usagi couldn't help but chuckle. "M-mom's still mom. Heh heh." It was a shallow imitation of the great laugh of old but it was a laugh. It was… something.

Kenji just shook his head. He knew it would be important to find out why Luna could talk, and how all of this had happened to his poor daughter. But there was something more important. "Usagi… I… I've never lost so many friends at the same time but… while I've been around I've… I've had friends die. Close friends, enough to be called family. The pain never quite goes away but… you can be happy. You will be happy again someday. Just… Just be strong, Bunny. And… maybe don't keep it a secret from us… next time you have to save the world?"

Usagi completely missed his last words.

"Be strong…" She murmured.

Ami

"_Usagi… Study hard, be strong. You can do it!"_

_Makoto_

"_It would've been better if you'd've saved us a little faster, dummy!" _

_Rei_

"_Usagi, this would be so much easier if you were just stronger…" _

_  
Mamoru_

"_Be strong Odango Atama. I know you can do it."_

_Rei_

"_Baaka! This is serious! If you don't start worrying a little more people are going to be in danger! You need to get stronger!_

_Luna_

"_She's so responsible… unlike _someone_ I know…" _

Words she'd heard so many times; words she'd let slide right through her and never paid attention too.

"Th-that's it! That's how I can…" Usagi exclaimed suddenly, as epiphany washed over her.

"Usagi?"

Usagi gave another smile. Still an imitation, but it was enough. Then, she glomped onto her father in a desperate embrace, shaking with both fear and excitement. "Thank you so much dad. I'll never forget this."

"Sis..? What are you—?" Shingo began but stopped when Usagi backed away from her father.

"T-tell mom, I love her, okay dad? I l-love you too… and you Shingo. Always. Don't ever f-forget me okay? I'll be back… Someday."

"Usagi!?" Kenji exclaimed right in time with Luna's questioning, "Usagi?"

She ran around her bed and threw her window open. Then turned back to her father and brother.

"I'm… I'm going. I'm going to get strong. So strong that… that no one will ever die. N-never again!" She said, eyes glistening once more now with the voice of her conviction. "I'll never let anyone die again!"

"Usagi! N-no! You… you—!"

Her smile stopped him short again. That smile, so rare this past few months since her friends' disappearance, and strained when they did appear. And now he knew why.

"I'll never let _anyone_ die again, Otousan." repeated the blonde. "I promise…"

Shingo, Luna, Artemis, who had yet to speak, and Kenji stood dumbfounded at Usagi as she almost effortlessly latched her fingers onto the top of the window and swung herself out and into the air. Two thuds echoed as the girl landed on the roof.

'Thanks… dad…' The girl thought to herself as her new mission asserted itself in her mind. Her mission. Hers alone.

"Up there! Up there on the roof!" came a shout as she stood to full height.

Photographs and flashes were everywhere flashing on her all at once, like she'd always dreamed of only two short months ago. Now she felt exposed and naked, and she hated it. But she couldn't avoid it. Not anymore.

"Moon Crystal Power Make Up!" She exclaimed at the top of her lungs. Her transformation, new and improved ever since Beryl, swept over her and her audience, awing them all.

When it was finished there stood Sailor Moon in all her glory, atop the roof of the home of the girl who was once Usagi Tsukino.

The mixture of her heartbroken-ness and her unnatural prose of speech which always appeared at her transformation gave her the words. And she meant every word.

"Listen! Survivors of the Dark Kingdom! Youma, Monsters, those that kill! Those that hate! Those who thrive for Darkness. I am Sailor Moon! And I will never let a life be taken again. Not Ever! If… If you attack! I'll kill you! If it costs me everything, I'll never let another person die. Ever…" Her speech ended on a down-turned tone and she turned herself towards the waning sunset, and jumped.

She ran, leaping from house to house and camera crews and press and family and friends tried and failed to keep up.

Usagi Tsukino, wouldn't be seen again by anyone except… one redheaded girl

* * *

_-Four Days Ago-_

"Moon Tiara Action." The words were whispered. Barely even audible but they were still there to Moon's unending chagrin. She simply could not find a way to perform her attack without them.

Sailor Moon turned around as soon as she threw the tiara and began to direct it. She ran forward like bolt of lightning and jumped to the highest visible branch in front of her. The target had been right… _there!_

_Slice!_

"Damn!" She cursed. She'd been off by three and a half millimeters. She'd have to fix that next time. She jumped and struck the first of her individual targets dead center, causing a shockwave to burst throughout, ripping the branch right out of the trunk. The next one was… _there!_

_Slice!_

Moon took off again, heading for the next in a line of twenty five targets she had to hit in under ten seconds. She'd only been able to do it in thirteen point two so far. "Not fast enough." She told herself. "Not strong enough."

_Slice! Slice! Slice! _

Three more targets down to her tiara. She jumped and aimed for the rest of the targets, plowing through her own twenty five and directing the tiara through its twenty five as fast as she could, shockwaves and slices echoing across the forest.

"Done!" She exclaimed as the tiara flew to her forehead, connecting without even a thought to reaching for it with her hand. She looked down at her watch and… fell to the ground.

"Oooh…!" She moaned. "Ten point oh two! Shimatta!"

At which point, the blonde girl tripped over a highly unnoticable root, slamming face first into the hard dirt below.

Moon was annoyed of late. Her grandiose speech had gone by almost two weeks ago and she'd done nothing but train. Usagi Tsukino had disappeared from the world completely however. And Moon didn't think she would ever exist again.

Sailor Moon was her now. In heart, in mind, in soul. She hadn't left her transformed phase in the entire time since her last transformation on the roof. And she didn't intend to do so ever again. This was her duty now. Her calling. What she should have done long ago.

She didn't even think of herself as Usagi anymore. When she didn't think in personal context it was simply 'Moon.' It was who she was.

She sighed. "I don't think clumziness'll ever leave me though. No matter how hard I try."

Between the time of her speech and subsequent transformation atop her house, and following disappearance, there had been one youma appearance. Just one. It was with that appearance that Moon had honed her skill at detecting the presence of a youma. She'd found that, while transformed, she could hear their call. Feel their evil in her very core.

It was very helpful she thought. She had yet to test the limits of distance involved with this but the place the youma had appeared was a backwater Tokyo ward almost twenty five miles from Juubancho.

She was proud to have gotten there in under five minutes, full rush, and also proud of the kill that took her no more than eight seconds.

The demon was hardly worth describing. Made of batter. Lots of batter. And something about a 'Thousand Year Golden Okonomiyaki.' It was strange. No matter though. It was attacking people and stealing energy so it was destroyed in short order.

"Moon Healing Escalation." She whispered, looking over her petrified training ground. As it had hundreds of times before, the ground, all five miles of it that had been disturbed and distorted by her training was refreshed and refurbished. Broken branches re-grew themselves and damaged animals were healed.

Luckily, most of her attacks seemed to not effect, or even heal the animals that resided with her in her small camp. Every now and then she would accidentally kill one of the darker animals though such as a rat or a raven… or squirrels for some reason she couldn't fathom.

Of course, she felt terrible every time, knowing that her training was destroying. But she had nowhere else to go. It was either here or she would be too far from the dangers to be of any assistance when attacks did come.

Moon set up the targets another fifteen or twenty times and repeated the process, getting it down to seven point three seconds before she finally called it a day.

The disguise pen had proven invaluable to her ever since she'd run from home. It wasn't just a disguise as it turned out but it was a log-in to all the information from that ancient kingdom stored with the current profession or disguise she wished to take. It provided her instantly full records of whatever she wanted to do, and hacked into government records, altering them to make them more than concrete, not to mention giving her whatever degrees or status she wanted. Magic could do things like that, she supposed. She'd had to focus almost all of her power into the pen to get it to go that far into her disguise but it turned out to be worth it.

Not only that, it put at her fingertips, knowledge she needed to perform whatever task she'd need.

She let down the disguise pen's alteration and lost the knowledge that would be ingrained into a master martial artist, but did not however, lose the training ideas she needed. Tomorrow she would do the same exercises without the pen and do her damned best to get them as close to the mark as possible.

She went to her tent and lay down for a few hours of sleep.

Her alarm, convenient little thing built into the communicator that no longer served as such, blared three and a half hours later, waking her up harshly.

She'd gone out of her way to get a discreet, yet well paying job as a Psychologist of all things, and honestly made more money then her parents combined did, already. That made her quite sad, actually. If the twentieth century world were this easy to manipulate with Silver Millennium magic… it said bad things about enemies that had been capable of destroying the Silver Millennium. She was beginning to believe that Queen Beryl and Metallia had not been the only ones behind the fall.

It had been… it burned her to think this but… killing Beryl and Metallia had been… too easy.

"You guys… I'm doing better. What you always wanted. I'm getting to be stronger every day! Please… please watch over me. I know you are there. I love you all…" She said to herself.

It took her about twenty seconds to transform with the pen, into Aiko Mizuruna, her height rising by four inches, hair becoming short, black, and cropped, breasts expanding by an substantial bit, and a short dress suit that completed the entire package. Another five or six minutes to get to her office. A small room within' the local town clinic of a ward she'd spent no time to learn the name of, near Juubancho. It had a cozy feel to it; a chair sat behind a large wooden desk for her and a lounge chair for the nine or ten patients she had.

Most of them came from the clinic itself. Of the ten, only two actually had substantial mental problems, one an ex-convict, the other she still hadn't determined, but was thinking about giving her simply the title of 'terminally insane.' Two were in marriage counseling. One, the most delightful man she'd ever had the pleasure of meeting, a young doctor with a crush the size of Tokyo tower itself that he simply could not get over, nor act on. The poor man… whenever his love's name was even mentioned he went crazy! It was so cute! If a little dangerous. The other five just came to let everything out, most of them trauma victims of youma attacks.

It was a… strange way of helping people. But Moon felt good about herself.

Sitting in her cozy chair she looked over to the single patient entering the room and sighed.

Gyosinda Tukinata. Age twenty seven, about how old she looked at the moment. He gave her a smile and she cringed. 'Mamo-chan…' She forced the thought out of her brain and returned the smile before he noticed. He was one of the _'truama'_ patients, though she had the distinct feeling that he was there more for _her_ than anything else.

Didn't matter much to her. He paid! She could go on ice cream binges and—!

Moon practically slapped herself. Sailor Moon did _not_ go on ice cream binges.

Though… maybe one wouldn't be so bad. One. For the memories

* * *

_-Two Months Ago-_

"GOOOD DAAAMNIT!!!!" Ranma screamed.

Akane winced visually as she stared at her fiancée, with a mixture of pity and… something she didn't like at all.

"Oh, come on Ranma…" Flip "It can't be all that bad." Her signs read quickly.

Ranma only glared at her. The glare faltered quickly and became a wince of pain.

It was only natural that Akane had adapted Genma's form of 'sign-language.' The panda had been thoroughly educating her ever since she'd been well enough to walk again. The burns, she'd been happy to find, were not all that bad. She looked exactly like the old Akane, save for one really bad burn on her left leg that wasn't healing. Given time, the doctors said even that would heal, which was incredibly lucky. Most burn victims could expect to be marred for life. She'd been lucky.

Ranma on the other hand…

"Jeez Ranma… every girl does this so…" Akane made to flip the sign to the other side that read 'why can't you be a man by being a girl?!' which she'd intended to be funny.

Ranma's look was anything but.

"I hate this, Akane…" She said. "I hate this…"

Akane looked down at her fiancée in pity… and disgust. Was this what she wanted? Ranma… Ranma wasn't Ranma like this… She was…

Not Ranma.

Akane sighed and enveloped the girl in a hug. These had become common betwixt the two… but they were never comfortable.

And Akane think she finally knew why. After all this time, wishing Ranma would understand her better. Wishing he was weak and knew what it was like. She'd finally got her wish. And… it disgusted her. It made her feel terrible but she'd loved… Ranma… strong.

But she wouldn't give up. Not yet.

"S-sorry Akane…" The girl mumbled. Tears streaming down her cheeks as she dealt with her first period.

Jeez… even she hadn't been this bad, and she had been notorious for being the worst in the family.

But she would not give up yet. Not yet. Oh but how she wished things were different…

No one knew that Ranma was dealing with an exponential effect of almost two years of missed periods. Even Doctor Tofu hadn't thought of that.

She slipped on her necklace and was abruptly transformed into a man. Tall, muscular, more so than Ranma had been in looks at least, though still no closer at being actually _stronger_ then the red-head below her, she looked like any girl's wet dream.

She hefted the quivering red-head into her arms and carried her to her room, as she had the past two nights. Disgusted with her. And even more with herself for being disgusted in general.

Not yet.

* * *

_-Present Day-_

"Hello!" Said a buxom tall, black-haired woman, as Ranma entered the room. "And you are Mister… oh… that's a big error. Heh. Miss Saotome right?" The woman asked peppily.

"Y-yeah." Ranma replied, cautiously. She looked around at the windows on two of the four walls within the room, glancing at the photographs and amenities situated around the room. Or rather lack, thereof.

"Come in, come in! Have a seat!" The girl exclaimed, and Ranma felt incredulous. This girl was a professional Psychologist? But Tofu had recommended her. Said she'd helped him get over his Kasumi infatuation and finally ask the girl on a date.

Maybe it would work for her… God, she hoped so… Then again, _God_ had quite thoroughly betrayed her once more.

Driving her to this…

"So, Ranma is it? I must say, Dr. Tofu's description doesn't do you justice. You are… beautiful. I'm a bit jealous." The girl said happily.

Ranma blushed furiously and tried very hard not to glare at the same time. "Not. Helping." She stated.

"O-Oh? I'm sorry. I suppose, I'd need to know what type of problems your having? Dr. Tofu said you'd be… unusual at best." Dr. Mizuruna stated, feeling quite abashed at having made her so angry so quickly.

"N-not your fault. Sorry." Ranma replied. "Y-yeah. I'll be… unusual. That's a good word for it."

"Well, here dear. Have a seat. Get yourself comfortable. Need anything? Coffee? Tea? Mint cakes?" She asked in that upbeat tone that was beginning to strangely rub off on Ranma.

"C-cakes?" Ranma asked shyly.

The woman grinned.

After Ranma and Ms. Mizuruna had been seated in their respective chair and couch-like bench, both happily stuffing themselves with mint cakes, Ms. Mizuruna broke the silence.

"So… what exactly is the problem, Ranma-chan? May I call you that?" She asked.

Normally Ranma would have protested but for some reason, she nodded. 'This girl is good at getting on people's good sides… I know that much…' She thought to herself.

"I… I've been having some… gender issues…" She said mutely.

"Oh? Like… like what?" Ms. Mizuruna asked. Gender issues? The only thing that jumped out at her was that the girl wanted to be a man.

"I… I-it's hard… to explain." Ranma said, covertly, tightly gripping her dragon gemmed locket around her neck. _Her_ locket. Not Akane's. Not anymore…

"Give it a shot. Remember, whatever you say will not leave this room. I swear confidentiality, Ranma-chan." Ms. Mizuruna told in a comforting tone.

The tone worked. Ranma's tension eased visibly though she didn't really even notice it.

"Well then… Miss Mizuruna… do you… uhm… do you… believe in magic?" Ranma asked, shyly.

Moon's eyes widened. She stood and walked towards Ranma and knelt down to stare the surprised girl in the eyes.

"M-Miss Mizuruna?" Ranma asked, worried at the harsh glare she was receiving.

"Yes… I do, Saotome-san. Do you?" She asked in a heavy and extremely serious tone.

Ranma noted the formality, and distinct anger and complete change of tone. "I.. uh.. Well you see… my problem is… well… I didn't used to be a girl, Mizuruna-san."

Moon blinked. Perhaps she'd been a little too worried. "R-really? How? A youma attack? I've never heard of one like that before but… it's possible… I've seen people turned into cakes before."

"Oh… Ehehe!" Ranma murmured weakly as she dropped the half eaten cake in her hands.

Moon almost giggled. Almost.

"I think we'll get along just fine, Ranma-chan. Just fine." She said, happily.

Ranma was confused. This girl changed moods faster than she did when she was on her…! Uh… yeah… Maybe it was some Psycho-technique… Well Ranma hoped it worked. She needed one.

* * *

**-End Prologue- **

* * *

**  
Author's Notes:**

**Well. There's the 11,000 word Prologue. Joy. Didja like it? I know. Weird. But I was inspired. Really inspired. This was the product of a grand total of about four days of nigh on nonstop work.**

**Sidenote: This IS a fukufic. Or will be. Sometime. Heh. I'm gonna have fun throwing in new outers. Reincarnated newbie Setsuna! Fun stuff! **

**  
Review if you like. I promise I won't bite... (snap) Hehe.**

******By the way. Sorry Ozz. I'm lazy. Wanted to publish! Did so. Forgive? Hehe. **


	2. Senshi

**Disclaimer:**** Don't own Ranma ½ or Sailor Moon.**

* * *

**-Chapter One-**  
**-Senshi-**

* * *

"Okay, Ranma-chan. Will you start from where we left off last time? Tell me what happened right when you came home from China up till now. Okay? This… trying to find a way to help you with your problem will be… unusual at best." Sighed the overstressed psychologist. 

Ranma chuckled humorlessly. "Yeah… I guess it will. Sorry doc."

It was their second session together. Doctor Tofu had said that he'd pay for her first three sessions and, after the first one three days ago, Ranma felt incredibly grateful. She'd never known how good it felt to just… get it all off her chest.

She just hoped that wasn't still another side-effect of her feminization, to coin Nabiki's phrase.

"That's alright, Ranma. Heh. I am getting paid for this pretty well, ya know!" Winked the unorthodox doctor.

Ranma blinked. 'This girl is so weird!' She thought, but even so, she found herself smiling.

"Alright. Well… When I got home… everything was… great actually. It was almost. Well… I'll start at the beginning I guess…

* * *

Ranma's heart was racing with every step she took. Every step bringing her that much closer to home. Every step brining her that much closer to… to a different life. A different Ranma and Akane. 

The dojo came into view. It had only been two weeks or so, as she'd been traveling quite hard, but it felt like months. Nostalgia swept over her once more and, despite the problems and her fears of her new… condition… she wanted to _be_ there! She wanted more than anything to be with her… her family.

Pops, and the Tendo's and her mother. God. Her mother. She surely knew by now… Would she… how would she react?

Ranma thought back to her battle with Saffron. A shiver mixed with a giddy feeling swept over her. If there was one way to die manly, that would've been it. Surely her mother wouldn't think her… weak for surviving... like this. Not after that. No one could ever think of her as weak after that.

Could they?

It was a strange dilemma that she had realized as she began the journey home after leaving Herb's abode. She wasn't weak. Never had been, even as a youth. But for ages now she'd had a subconscious thought in the back of her mind that as a girl she _was_ weak. Now, that had been brought to the forefront, and she'd finally recognized the feeling as a conscious thought.

It infuriated her but… how could she stop what she believed in her subconscious beyond even a shadow of doubt? It didn't help that she had no proof to the contrary. She was the only girl she'd ever known that was truly powerful. She and Herb. Both conveniently, _actually _males. Shampoo, Ukyo, Akane? None of them were even really decent when compared with her.

Even Cologne. True the old bag was a fair bit better then herself but if she had the old ghoul's age, she knew she'd be… better. Much better.

The whole thing… saddened her.

She moved to the gate, hoping over it without a second thought and approached the door with a million thoughts. Just walk in and shout 'Taidama!?' or… knock? She wasn't fiancé material anymore so… was she welcome? Did Akane still…

"Dammit." She murmured to herself.

She opened the door and stepped in. "Taidama!" She exclaimed.

"Ranma! You're back!" Kasumi exclaimed, first as always to accept visitors and guests.

"Ranma, son!" Soun exclaimed happily. Curiously, it was he that made it to the redhead first and enveloped her in a hug, much like the very first time she had arrived. This time much less shocked by her feminine form. Much more helpful as well that Ranma returned the hug, if a bit awkwardly.

"It's good to have you back." Soun intoned in the heavy accent he always carried that suddenly Ranma felt a great blast of envy for. Not his voice in particular. Just a male one.

"H-hey everyone." She said, trying to force the slight bit of nervousness out of her voice. "It's good to be back!"

It was a very usual welcome which was why Ranma was so surprised when a fist suddenly impacted itself into her abdomen.

She doubled over, completely thrown off as she staggered back from the sudden form of Akane there with her fist implanted into Ranma's stomach. A sign flashed out of the mute girl's hands, eerily similar to a certain panda's signs, and she turned to Nabiki. "Haha! You owe me ten thousand yen!" It read.

"A-Akane?" She questioned, looking at the girl before her, amazed yet partially perturbed.

Akane had _hit _her! The girl had actually managed to get close enough to her, fast enough to _hit_ her! Talk about surreal…

Then she noticed the enormous amount of welts and stings all over the girl's body. Ranma gave a grin as she recovered from having the wind knocked out of her. That wasn't difficult. She might be faster but, even unprepared, Ranma's skin was pretty much titanium when compared to anything with the obvious exception of Ryoga. "Pops trainin' ya, ain't he Akane…-chan?" Ranma faltered on giving Akane such a familiar title, worried about her reaction. To her great relief that reaction was a beam.

She nodded enthusiastically and whipped out a sign. "Started with the sign technique. We got to talking and" Flip "he offered to train me so I said yes! I can't believe I actually hit you!"

Ranma couldn't help but grin. In hindsight, she'd been careless, not to mention a nervous wreck upon entering the house. If she'd been at her norm she'd have sensed the attack miles away but…

"Great job, Akane-chan. I didn't even see it coming!" She said happily.

It was quite entertaining, Ranma decided, to see Kasumi with a dropped jaw. Nabiki too for that matter. Akane simply danced on her feet giddily and then ran to Ranma and began dragging her towards the dojo.

'Yeah. I think this could work.' Ranma thought with a smile. 'Really work.'

She crossed her fingers and gave a short look up to the sky. Then, she let herself be dragged away to the dojo.

Once there both of them stood facing off against one another. Ranma looked at Akane seriously and decided something. She didn't understand why she did. Why she could. But knowing that she would be a girl from now on had given her a different perspective. And she'd realized that she was pretty damn thickheaded when it came to some things. So when Akane attacked, faster than Ranma had ever seen the girl move, though still nothing beyond belief, Ranma did not hesitate in a fast dodge and punch straight through the girl's opening left on her lower abdomen.

The pigtailed girl backed up in an instant and stared at Akane, now similarly doubled over as she had been before.

"R-Ranma?" She her eyes asked, silent words she mouthed, looking up, holding her stomach, a strange, unreadable expression on her face.

Ranma looked down at her and shifted nervously on her feet. "W-Well… I c-can't really use the 'I don't fight girls' excuse anymore. So… I… Well… uhm…"

If the blue haired girl had beamed before, her face simply radiated joy now.

Ranma's nervousness evaporated with that smile. Honestly, in hindsight, she wished she'd stayed nervous. "Plus! It's about time I let you know that since you're such a tomboy an' all, you can take a punch from me!" She exclaimed.

The ensuing eye-twitch that followed served to easily give Ranma a sweat drop. No mallet appeared though. Instead, Akane strode forward to the red-head, death radiating in her eyes.

"Joke!?" Ranma exclaimed, desperately.

Akane merely produced a sign and handed it too him in anger. He took it, in a moment of confusion and to his consternation, read it.

"Ranma no baka!"

Ranma looked at the girl she loved and gave a grin. "What? No hammer? Lose your edge tom—!"

It was only then that she noticed the wick…

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me."

BOOM

The sign exploded in a perfect rendition of both the sign technique, Happo-daikarin, and the Anything Goes adaptability.

It appeared the hammer required the words to summon. Ranma missed it profusely, as she tore herself out of the wall.

* * *

"She blew you up!?" The horrified psychologist exclaimed. 

Ranma shrugged. "Hey, it happens. It's not like they are dangerous bombs! Even Happosai's biggest one won't kill anybody. At least the ones he's used on people. I'm pretty sure he could though…"

Doctor Mizuruna shivered. 'No wonder this girl is in here. How in the hell am I supposed to help her? Even the silver millennium info doesn't have any cases like this! The casual way she talks about being blown up… And I'm not even sure what her problem is yet! But Doctor Tofu told me her story was the real deal…' She contemplated.

History, via the pen, told her that all this, all the story she was being told was nothing more than lead in to what her problem was. Incredible and unbelievable lead in it was, but still lead in. She felt lucky that Ranma had come to her. No one else would believe this mess. They'd look at her and act like they understood while signing her up for the insanity ward. And throw Tofu in too for believing it!

Even the _pen's_ knowledge from years past was telling her to sign the girl up for the psycho-ward.

But _she_ knew better. Things like this were real. They could and did happen.

Even she had a bit of incredulousness about this one, though.

"Ranma… are you… from the way you speak you act like this is… practically a daily occurrence?" Dr. Mizuruna said, but tipped it off to make it a question.

Ranma looked contemplative for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, I guess so. Every other day, I'd say. Well. Not so often anymore. We don't see each other much."

Despite the pang of pity she felt for the downtrodden words of the redhead Aiko went straight to the point. "R-Ranma… it's… you know that's not _normal._ You do know that. Right?" She asked, obviously worried at what the answer would be. 'Like _I'm_ one to talk…'

Ranma blinked in obvious and unfeigned surprised. "It's not?"

The doctor sighed. She had a long way to go. "Continue please… We'll get back to that later."

"O-okay. Um but first… Mizuruna-san…" Ranma said, in a stuttering voice.

"Hmm?" Aiko asked cheerily.

"Could I have another one of those mint-cakes?" Ranma asked her most affectionate feminine voice.

Aiko smiled. "Of course. But you do understand my incredulousness towards your claim of being male once if you keep doing things like that."

Ranma's cheeks flushed and her feminine tone evaporated. "I'll go on now…"

Aiko's smile widened as she continued. "C'mon! I have yet to define the problem you have but I think I'm startin' to get the idea. All the books I've ever had, classes I've ever taken, everything, tell me that you are a gender confused individual with an overactive imagination but I see something more."

Ranma was surprised by the sudden pang of betrayal she felt at the doctor's words, and then uplifted in hopeful thought as the doctor displayed confidence in her story.

"Dr. Tofu told me that everything you say is utterly believable being my first reasoning. I must admit, without that I'd still be… doubting. Not completely though. The second being I think I believe you myself."

Ranma's eyes widened. "I… Thanks… I think. Uhm. Why though? The… It is kind of… far fetched when I think about it. I've got some proof but…"

The doctor gave another winning grin. "You're the first person I've ever met who's liked my mint cakes."

Ranma gave a grin of her own back.

It wasn't Aiko's real reason of course. But it was just cryptic enough to give Ranma the impression that it was possible. "Please continue with your story. I think I'm getting an idea of what your problem is already."

Ranma almost retorted that the fool doctor had no idea about her problems but she restrained herself. It was her _job_ to figure out people's problems as they told their stories. It only made sense. Hell… she wasn't even sure what her problem was, with any definable… words to it.

'Hiroshi…' thought her weary mind abysmally. 'Dammit… what should I do…?'

Giving up on thinking about it again, that was what the doctor was for, she decided she'd just continue. "Alright." She murmured as a mint cake was handed to her and she gobbled in glee

* * *

"H-Hey, Akane." Ranma muttered, getting the girl's attention. Ranma was nervous again but that was a good thing, she'd decided. Being nervous had gotten her smiles and radiant beams earlier this day while when she'd become comfortable she'd been blown up. 

Even so…

Akane turned to look at her fiancée, a slight yet not so angry glare on her face. Ranma's warning sense went off an alert level two. Max being five. So she was safe, for the moment.

As long as she didn't say anything stupid.

"H-heya," She said as she sat down next to the girl.

It had been three hours. Ranma had returned to her own house to meet her father and mother and they'd been surprisingly accommodating. Her mother had some strange ideas but she just wrote them off as oddities of the Saotome family. The panda… he didn't say much. He kept giving her these unnerving looks that, frankly, freaked her out. Soun had been there too. Something about Nabiki, and children needing time alone. Quite strange really. She'd left and gone back to the Tendo's about half an hour ago and only just arrived to find Akane sitting on the roof, watching a beautiful sunset.

"So… where is everyone?" Ranma asked.

Akane, still angry, answered with a finger, pointing out towards the sunset.

"Oh… kay? Are… well…"

Akane sighed. She didn't like using signs... they sucked when compared to actual words... but it was all she had at the moment. "Nabiki seemed to think it would be a good idea." Flip "to get everyone to leave me alone for when you came back." Flip "They'll be gone till tomorrow apparently…"

"So that's why Soun was at mom's house…" Ranma murmured speculatively.

Akane ignored him.

"Oh. I… well… I'm sorry about earlier." She drawled.

The girl simply turned and looked back to the sunset.

"I really didn't mean it. You've always been good enough… I just…" Ranma tried to say.

Akane didn't react.

Ranma wished she could speak. This was a permanent case of cold shoulder whenever the girl was angry. It had been like this a few times between Akane's release from the hospital and when Ranma had left for china. It wasn't as bad now at least. Akane hadn't had signs then.

"Please sign me something, Akane-chan…" Ranma asked.

Akane turned around again and instantly produced a sign.

"Baka."

"Tomboy!" Ranma shouted instantly, and of course regretted it. "I… Uh… Look I…"

Akane only glared. After a moment, the glare faded into a sigh. Another sign appeared.

"I thought that when we admitted we loved each other…" Flip "Things would work out. Things would be better."

Ranma wasn't sure how Akane carried emotion through the words on the sign. She didn't really understand it at all but she definitely felt it.

"I… nobody can change in a day, Tomboy. But… I don't want to… hurt you. I know that now. So… I'm sorry." Ranma said somberly as she gazed at the blue haired girl. The welts on her face and arms from the bees Genma had surely been arraying at her, were fading already. He'd started developing her ability to heal quickly as well.

Despite his methods, she had to hand it to her old man. He was a good teacher, even if he didn't explain a damn thing that he was doing and just told you it was for your own good. Ranma thought she could do a bit better. Hoped she could. But Genma's results were… well… her. Honestly, she didn't know.

Akane looked at her fiancé, unfathomably surprised. She'd called her a tomboy but… done so… affectionately? "I know." Her sign read. "I just—"

Ranma lowered the sign. "Hey. We both get that we aren't any older or smarter or better. Right? I'm still a baka and you're still kawaiikune. But… I love you that way. And… well… I don't know about you but—"

Akane's breath caught. She looked from her lowered sign to the Saotome prodigy.

And glomped her.

The kiss lasted for ages. The one they'd had before Ranma left had been nothing next to this. No one disturbed them and nothing came between them… well… except for the two sets of breasts problem, which they somehow got around. Even though the sensation was pleasant, it was a mutual reminder of all they had lost to come this far.

By the time they parted from their kisses and touches for a moment, the sun had completely fallen, but moonlight left the world illuminated.

"Akane. I got something for you. I… well. Herb told me I should give it to you when we were alone. I… I don't really know what it does but he told me that… well…"

Ranma looked at the now illegible sign that had appeared in her fiancée's hand and sighed.

"L-lets go inside okay? I… I can't see your sign." Ranma said with a slight chuckle. Akane found no humor in it but she nodded, her eyes beaming in the moonlight.

"Kawaii bishoujo…" Ranma breathed, and Akane's heart skipped another beat.

Why had this never happened before? Why did it take all this for them to… to…?

Akane had never felt so warm before in her life.

Ranma took the girl into her arms and swung down, straight through the open window and into her room in one swift motion, and Akane felt swept off her feet.

She blushed from head to toe but still found the energy to produce a sign.

"Do you mean that? What you said… Up there?" Her sign read, face leaned forward fervently awaiting the red-head's answer, eyes pleading.

Ranma gulped and nodded. They were alone in his room. Scratch that. _Her_ room, now. She was so vulnerable, but… beautiful. Why had she never realized it before? "Yeah… I always thought you were… ever since the day we met. But… I wasn't ready to get married… sooner or later it just… became habit… ya know? The name-callin' I mean."

Akane looked down into her lap. Smiling like she never had before. A terrible thought entered her mind. It was strange how quickly this relationship was progressing now that she couldn't speak.

No. It wasn't that.

It was that… that they'd finally admitted how much they cared about the other. God she hoped it was that.

She produced a simple sign. Its message was simple as any other sign was. But… it meant so much more. Because she'd never been able to say the words she so desperately wanted to, it was the only way for her to do so.

"I love you." Was that simple message.

Ranma felt her face heat up, her heart race and melt, her eyes brim over, her tongue grow wet, her palms sweaty as well as her brow...

How such simple words, written on a sign no less, had such a profound effect on her, she didn't know. She didn't care.

Then another sign appeared that repeated the phrase somewhere between ten and twenty seven times, causing Ranma to laugh out loud before she was glomped for the second time that day by the girl she loved, accentuated by the hollow thud of the sign on the floor.

They kissed once more but this time it didn't stop there.

Neither was competent but neither cared. Both were more embarrassed then they had ever been, but for once that did not hinder them. The light was silenced and the room became dark, once more illuminated by moonlight.

Both only grew more embarrassed as more clothing came off but neither could find it in them to stop. Red cheeks hidden by darkness, and tiny insecurities evaporated with a touch or, in Ranma's part at least, a simple word.

There were tears of joy, and of sorrow, mixed with kisses of the same. Grief for the lost opportunities, and happiness for a future that was to come.

But above all was love above and beyond everything, drowning out their malice, petty grievances, and embarrassments.

…

And, of course, that distinct lack of clothing, punctuating everything!

It was some time later that either of them found a semblance of normality again. Not much of a semblance really.

Ranma squirmed to bend her head up and around the girl atop her, feeling strange, fluttery, sensations from the breast pressed into the valley between her own, and looked at the clock.

Half past midnight.

It had been almost three to four hours. Ranma just sighed, in utter elation and lay her head back, feeling the taller girl atop her. She laughed at her. Her eyes were still rolled into the back of her head a bit, lulling in afterglow.

Then she rolled the girl over, blanket going with them and landed atop the girl in the same position reversed; she kissed the girl again. It must have been the three thousandth one that night but it didn't matter anymore.

"Y-you know, tomboy… B-bein' a girl… might not be so bad after all." She said, her cheeks turning red as she admitted something she'd realized nigh on four hours ago.

Akane giggled.

Ranma pushed herself off the girl, the blanket sliding off. Even though they couldn't see much, the moon had moved to light even more of the room then it had before, leaving her embarrassed once again.

"Uhm… well… So… you want it? The gift I got you? It… it didn't cost anything. Herb told me it was for you so I guess it's sorta from him but I think you'll like it. Might be a bit late now though…" Ranma said as she subconsciously moved to hide her exposed nakedness from the tomboy below her.

Akane nodded vigorously, now that she'd been thrown back to reality.

Ranma moved to the wall and flipped the light switch, illuminating the room completely, and subsequently causing herself to turn yet another shade of red deeper.

"E-eheh… it's uh… in my pocket there. Hehe!" She said, sweat-dropping. Akane had hidden herself under the sheet but she kept looking at Ranma's body, her own cheeks flushed. She produced a sign.

"You're amazing, Ranma." It read.

Another shade. Was she glowing yet? Surely she was. "Y-y-y-a a-ain't so… uhm… so bad… yerself! Hehe!" She could just die, right there...

Ranma knelt down and grabbed her pants, throwing them over her kneeling legs, she began fishing in the pockets.

"H-here it is!"

Another sign. "Your tongue!"

Seven more shades, Ranma looked up and away from the girl, unable to stand the embarrassment of eye contact. "C-come on Akane! Open it already!" She insisted.

Akane's face brimmed over in a smile of mirth and she looked down towards Ranma's hand and gasped.

A small box. A jewelry box.

"L-like I said," Ranma began, allowing her eyes to fall on her fiancée again, lingering on the single breast that had been exposed by Akane's gasp and subsequent dropping of the hand holding half the blanket to her neck. "H-herb gave it to me to give to you. It's… it's not a wedding ring! Don't go getting ideas! I still don't think… well… you know… but…"

Deciding to just stop with the words, they were superficial anyways, Ranma just moved closer to her tomboy and opened the box in the other girl's hands, revealing the golden chained locket.

Akane stared in awe at the jewelry. It was beautiful beyond reason and she hadn't even seen the inside yet. Far more than Ranma's un-educated eyes could ever comprehend. She took the box and unraveled the necklace, small gold chain falling free in her hand. She opened the locket and almost had a heart attack. A custom carved diamond, blue as the sky itself lay imbedded within one half, while the other held room for a small photo. Within' Ranma had placed the picture of the two, him male, together that she had taken with her. The picture had been cut to fit into the locket.

"D-do you like it? I thought it looked pretty good myself so I hoped that you would." Ranma stuttered.

'Words.' Akane thought as she stared at the stunning necklace. 'It would have been so much better if it'd been _him_ who lost the ability to speak! The baka never says anything useful! Just blabbers!'

She looked at her sheepishly-grinning fiancée and smiled. 'My blabbering idiot.'

She pulled the locket around her neck and let it fall to hang between her breasts, now both exposed.

"It's gorgeous, Ranma." Came the sign, along with Ranma's sigh of relief.

"I hoped you'd… you'd… A-Akane…?" Ranma said, backing up.

The locket, now closed, began to glow, a faint golden aura spreading around the golden casing it was made of.

A shocked expression crossed Akane's face for merely a moment before she suddenly began to… change.

"Oh my… Akane!" Ranma exclaimed.

Her breasts plunged in on themselves, hair altered just slightly, while taking on the most unusual white color. Between her legs… she shivered and looked away. Best to avoid looking there. Her arms elongated and grew more defined and her legs did the same.

Akane flushed. By the look of surprise on Ranma's face it was obvious that she was not at fault, though she realized that normally she'd be in a towering rage with the red-head right now whether or not it was her fault.

It appeared normal needed a new definition these days.

A sign appeared, though for some strange reason, it was cracked and ruined, made of rotting wood. The words were still legible but barely. "Ranma… I'm… I'm a guy!"

Ranma had never thought Akane idiotically redundant before but that…

"Ya think!?" She exclaimed as she backed away. "T-take it off, dumb tomboy! Do you wanna get cursed too!?"

Angered for a moment, Akane realized the implications that this could mean and she yanked the chain off her neck, as her heart began to race in a way entirely different from the last four hours.

Instantly the change began to reverse. Her chest became soft and expanded. Hair faded back to its usual dark blue, muscles reverted from their powerful bulky state to their common, lithe, feminine, form.

They sat there in silence for a few moments, staring at the locket on the floor.

"Th-that… that… JERK! I can't believe I trusted him! I… I'm sorry… Akane. I…" Ranma began in angry rage and faltered as she finally worked up the courage to look at her restored female fiancée.

Akane didn't really understand it. She knew she should be angry but somehow she was not. In hindsight, the reason for her lack of anger could have something to do with the three to four hours of repeated orgasms she'd just had. Or perhaps a more simple reason was that getting angry produced much less satisfaction with her current sound impediment. At the time though the only thing she could do, was think.

And the results she came to were astounding.

"Ranma. Hang on." Came the next sign, now pristine and beautiful oak wood again.

She stood, completely forgetting that she should be embarrassed and walked to the door, picking up the locket on the way. She opened it and glanced left, then right, making sure no one was there. She dashed into the hall.

Ranma was left stunned, twiddling her fingers. She hadn't been angry? Or… anything?

"That necklace didn't do anything to me and I wore it the whole way home!" She heard the water taps begin running from the bathroom and sighed. A few minutes passed and she listened to the taps turn on and off.

…

"She was huge…"

…

"GOD DAMMIT, Herb! I swear if you cursed her I'll—!"

The door slid open, reveal Akane's still naked, female, but this time extremely embarrassed form.

"S-so? Are you okay, Tomboy?" Ranma asked fearfully.

Akane gave a grin and nodded.

In three signs Ranma learned, "It just changes my gender! I can become a guy whenever I wear it. If I open the locket while it's on I turn back into a girl too! Nothing to do with water!"

Ranma stared at the golden chain and locket dangling in her fiancée's palm.

"So… what did he want you to have it for, Akane? Why would Herb wanna turn you into a guy?" Ranma asked trying to puzzle it out. "I bet he's trying to kidnap you! That sick pervert!"

A rather large sweat drop trailed down her brow. She tapped the side of her head as if to say 'Think about it, Ranma.'

Ranma did. For about a minute. "I don't get it."

Akane fell on her face. Sign. "Ranma… do you want kids someday? An heir to the dojo?"

"Of course!" Ranma replied smartly.

Akane's eye almost twitched. Another sign. "And… how would you get those kids?"

God, this was an embarrassing night. "I'm pretty sure you know how that works Akane… Me an… uhm… well I'd always thought you… would uhm… well and you'd have a baby and…"

"How would that work now, though, Ranma?" Read the final sign. "If you're a girl, and I'm a girl…"

Ranma's eyes widened.

Oh yes. Ranma's eyes widened veeerrry much.

So much, in fact, that the girl simply passed out from eye-widenage.

Akane sighed. "Baka…"

Taking a look down at the necklace, she… grinned. A Jusenkyo curse, she'd decided long ago, would be hell. A _controlled_ Jusenkyo curse however…

It made her giggle. Well. Not quite giggle but as close to giggle as she could get now. Ranma's form, passed out on the floor completely shocked expression still etched across her face though, made her laugh out loud. Or try to. That made her sad again when the laugh she should have made produced a dry hiss.

She looked down at the redhead.

'You're staying with me tonight.' She told her.

With that, she tossed the naked girl, said girl's clothes and her own clothes all over her shoulders.

Then she left the room and entered her own quickly and quietly, tossing the clothes to the floor, and everything else, adding to a total of one small girl, onto her bed.

She looked down at the girl. She'd already taken up the entirety of the bed-space, arms and legs flailing everywhere.

'You're such an idiot, Ranma Saotome.' She thought, as a bubble popped out of the sleeping girl's nose and began inflating and deflating, causing a slight tint of disgust mixed with a bit of humor. She did that, too, she knew. 'I love you!'

So, so, liberating to finally say it. And so… easy.

And with that, the blue haired girl plopped down into her bed, half in the arms of the red-head, and enveloped herself in the warmth of the body beside her.

* * *

"You… You fainted!" The psychologist did her level best to not break out laughing. 

"H-hey! Your fiancée changes gender and you see if you do better!" Ranma retorted angrily.

Mirth not nearly erased from her voice, the black haired woman said, "I'm sure I would've figured it out a bit before all that! That doesn't really take a genius to get, you know!"

Aiko could have sworn she heard the words, "Sarcastic, Flat-chested..." mumbled under the redhead's breath and it made her chuckle all the more.

"Why, Ranma-chan! I do believe you have a crush on me!" Aiko laughed uproariously.

Ranma's face flared. "Wh-what! N-no way! You're my shrink! How could—!"

"Ah, but you did tell me you'd called miss Akane-san 'flat-chested' for ages before you'd finally gotten together with her. And I do believe those were the exact words I heard you mumble." Aiko said, with a sly grin.

"Cuz you are!" The red-head exclaimed. "She was different, though."

Aiko's eyes widened at the not-quite-hidden insult, this time actually feeling a bit put down. Sure! In her _real _body she was flat-chested! But not as Aiko!

"Oh Ranma, I was just teasing you." She said, hastily. This prompted a strange, and speculative look from the red-headed enigma.

"You're… nothing like what I thought a shrink would be, Miss Mizuruna. An… um… I was jus' kiddin' too. Ya ain't flat-chested." Said Ranma with a chuckle.

Aiko beamed.

"Ain't as big as mine, though."

Aiko glared murder.

At least until she saw the smirk on her patient's face, and realized it was all in good fun. But it gave her a speculative look into a past version of the girl before her. A version who joked like that without comprehending the repercussions. At least the girl before her now had grown. It was obvious why it had taken her so long to get together with Akane.

"Heh. Well. You still have twenty minutes left, Ranma-chan. Would you like to keep going?" She asked.

Ranma didn't think she'd ever felt so comfortable with someone. Much as it was all in good fun, strange as _that,_ in and of itself alone, was, Ranma thought she might actually _have_ a crush on the elder woman. She couldn't be what? Four, Five, years older?

Blinking hastily at the line of thought her mind was taking her down, she cast her stray thoughts aside and answered, confidently for the first time to her shrink. "Hai!"

* * *

A long, heavy, utterly satisfied yawn left the lips of an early rising Ranma Saotome. She stretched and pleasantly absorbed the shift it caused to the body lying against hers. 

At first she was confused. She looked around to find an unfamiliar room. Not to mention finding herself abnormally 'high' within said room before she comprehended that she was on a bed.

The memories of last night fluttered through her mind in a hazy dreamy like joy. She shuddered with delight, looking down at the girl lying atop her.

"H-hey… Akane-chan. It's almost dawn." She sighed dreamily.

Akane moaned, soundlessly, using only airflow to convey her annoyance.

It was then that, to Ranma's annoyance, came the realization that she had no idea when anyone would be getting home today. If anyone would be getting home today. It also came to her that there was school today.

"Ugh…"

Ranma subtly decided to wake her by grabbing her eyelid and pulling it wide. "We need to get up before everyone get's home… They might already _be_ home!"

Swish. Click.

"Ranma, Akane! It might be best if you wake up before everyone else gets home!" Came Kasumi's delighted voice. "Oh! Congratulations, by the way!"

Then the door shut, leaving a wide awake Ranma and a very much speedily wakening Akane, blushing yet again.

'God, if all relationships are like this I'm never going to be able to get all the blood outta' my head! It's worse than fighting the damn bird!' Ranma thought angrily.

Wearily, she lifted the taller girl, gently, and was annoyed when the mass of flesh shifted and plopped back down right on top of her.

"Tomboy! Wake up!" She exclaimed.

That finally woke up the half dead girl, but she made no move to respond and only lifted herself, still glaring, off the weary redhead.

Then she lay down beside her, both still beneath the blankets. Both still feeling the warmth and touch of the other.

It was then that the situation came to them.

They were naked. In a bed. Together.

"Uh… well… you gonna get dressed, tomboy?" Ranma asked with a gulp.

"Uh… you go ahead, Ranma!" came her ever-present sign. Ranma speculated how it was she did that without any clothes. She supposed her father didn't have any but still, it was impressive.

It became apparent that whoever dressed first would have no choice but to expose herself completely to the eyes of the other.

For some strange reason that was quite difficult.

Ranma took a gulp and threw her legs over the bed and sat up flushing head to toe as she grabbed her clothes off the floor and dressed, feeling Akane's eyes on her like twin cackling rays of amusement.

The girl herself, pulled her blanket off the bed and moved to her drawers, not taking her eyes off Ranma, who only now had a pair of pants on.

"This is weird…" She said.

Akane's hand moved to cover her lips in a typical soundless laugh.

They got dressed, sooner or later, Ranma in the old clothes from yesterday, Akane in a cleanly washed Furinkan uniform.

Then they sat back on the bed, looking at one another. "Some night, Akane-chan." Ranma exclaimed. The girl nodded profusely.

Rays of sunlight began to filter through the window as the sun began to rise.

"So… I feel like crap!" Ranma exclaimed. "How'd I get in here? I don't remember coming to your room last night."

Akane's face brimmed with mirth, albeit tired, morning mirth. Sign. "You fainted when you figured out what the locket was for!"

"Did not." Ranma said plainly. "Guys don't faint."

Thus prompting Akane to forcefully poke Ranma in the boob.

"Ow! Fine!" The redhead exclaimed, now rubbing the tender apendage having turned away from her cruel fiancee.

Akane could only laugh silently again.

Ranma joined her. This was probably the single most unusual wake-up experience she'd ever dealt with. And she'd had quite the unusual waking-up circumstances before.

But…

She didn't think she could feel happier.

"I'm gonna go take a bath, okay Akane? It… uhm… it's probably best if we didn't… tell about this, ya think? The locket and all. If they knew they'd still probably try to shove us down the aisle." Ranma said as she stood from the newly remade bed.

Akane nodded thoughtfully.

Ranma began to walk out of the room but as she made it to the door, she found her eyes on the tomboy once more. "I… l-love you… Akane-chan!" The girl gulped out nervously.

Akane, even with her weariness in the mornings, gave a beam that outshined the sun, producing the same sign as last night, with the reply.

At that, Ranma mimicked her. The intense burning feeling she'd felt when she'd seen that sign last night had quieted somewhat, though was no less potent, and was now simply a simple burning… desire and heartfelt care for her.

'I hope this lasts forever…' She thought, as she left the room and entered the hallway, only to find herself sighing in disappointment that she would be without the girl for even so short a time as a bath would take.

'I guess this is what love feels like.' She thought.

…

"She's still an un-cute tomboy!" She exclaimed as she made her way to the bath.

It was some time later. Kasumi had made breakfast for the two new lovers and herself but Soun had called telling them he would be staying with the Saotome's till later that day, while Nabiki had said she was just going straight to school the previous night.

Neither of them were quite certain _where_ Kasumi had stayed. Strange.

"So… you two finally managed to get together last night?" Kasumi asked, utterly unsubtly, even for her rather blunt manner.

They blushed roses. "M-maybe…" Ranma murmured.

"Was it good?"

The two girls spat out the food they were chewing in utter surprise.

"K-K-Kasumi!?"

The eldest Tendo cackled in mirth. "Oh, I'm just teasing. Now you two take care of each other. I've fancied Ranma a little brother for quite some time. Wouldn't mind seeing it happen. Sister at least. Right Ranma-chan?"

'It was going to permanent from now on. Wasn't it?' thought Ranma's speculative mind as she contemplated the ever-present blush on her cheeks since she'd returned yesterday. She nodded, shyly, with a bit of dismal sadness.

Books ready, Ranma and Akane began what Ranma had been dreading. The trip back to school, and subsequently, informing the student body that she was now female.

"Oh come on, Ranma! It won't be that bad!" came a particularly impatient sign as they realized how much the tension was increasing on their walk to school.

Ranma was dressed in a newer, tighter, version of her regular Chinese outfit, made to fit her female form, grumbling at the incessant need for panties and bras that existed for her now.

"Yeah! For you! You ain't the one who's gonna have to flip restrooms!" Ranma exclaimed impatiently. "Or gym sides, or friends. Or have to deal with all the girls lookin' at me like I'm a pervert, no thanks to a _certain someone!_" Ranma shouted to the blue haired girl as they passed the ladle lady, thankfully not being splashed for once.

"You are a pervert!" Akane signed giddily.

"Am not!" Came the quick reply.

Akane's eyes suddenly rolled up into the back of her head, and her mouth lulled partly open in an over exaggerated attempt to imitate herself from the previous night, as another sign, surprisingly familiar to the redhead, made its way shakily up. "Your tongue!"

"T-T-Tomboy! Put that away!" Ranma exclaimed looking anxiously left and right to see if anyone was around.

Akane could only chuckle. Still silent as ever as she dropped the playful act she'd pulled.

"This is so… weird…" Ranma sighed under her breath as she and Akane continued walking, side-by-side.

Sign. "I know. Surreal. But we'll get used to it. Right, Ranma?"

Ranma looked to her Akane-chan, and gave her most confident, winning grin. "I could get used to anything for you."

Akane spluttered as she gaped at Ranma, embarrassed yet again.

"Uncute, flat-chested, tomboy!" The red-head exclaimed and dashed off at high speeds towards the school, beginning a rather prompt game of tag.

Akane fumed. She'd completely ruined it!

Producing a huge sign blatantly reading "That's not what you said last night!" she dashed off after the laughing redhead swinging madly.

The future, all in all, was looking quite bright.

* * *

"Why don't we stop there for today, okay, Ranma-chan. It's about time for you to go anyways." Aiko said fondly. 

Ranma nodded. She'd found that it helped talking about everything. Last week she'd skimmed through her regular life and the Saffron fight to the upbeat doctor in her first two hour session.

This week she'd felt even more relaxed inside this small, cozy office.

"So, I'll be seeing you next Thursday right?" Aiko asked speculatively.

Ranma nodded again.

She stood and walked to the doorway, her mood pleasant in the extreme. Good times she had relived this day. Very good times. It made her happy to remember, and sad at the same time, but still… beyond all of that it simply felt good to get it all off her shoulders.

"Doctor Mizuruna?" She asked as she reached for the door, merely acquiring the doctor's attention.

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

The doctor smiled at the girl. "Don't thank me. I haven't _done_ anything yet!"

'Yeah, you have.' Ranma thought. She wasn't sure _what_ the doctor had done but… she'd done something in these short two meetings.

Ranma gulped. Maybe she _did_ have a crush on the doctor. Wouldn't _that_ be a problem.

She had enough of those at the moment.

'Dammit.' She thought wryly. 'We need to pick up the pace, so I can figure out what to do about Hiroshi…'

It shouldn't have been a problem. She should have just told him off like she always did but…

If there was anyone she could trust not to… well… take advantage of her, difficult as that would be for anyone, it was her best friend, she'd figure. And she…

Could she hold off her answer until next Thursday?

"Whatta mess…" She murmured as she exited the building. Walking towards her home, the Saotome home, not the Tendo's, she remained engrossed in deep mental hysteria, desperately trying to figure out what she should do.

It was in that intense state of mental exertion that she found herself suddenly under siege.

Literally.

A sudden boom exploded ahead of her and wind picked up as a result blowing her hair back as if a bomb had gone off in the distance.

A few less sturdy people nearby were completely swept off their feet as Ranma looked ahead.

Finally witnessing the cause of the sharp wind, Ranma shivered in nigh on nostalgia. A minotaur-like beast stood there, with a deadly looking metal ring, about a foot in diameter, in its hands, charging straight towards her.

"Agrapheron!" The beastly thing cried, halting in its charge before Ranma was able to react and crying towards the sky.

"Looks just like Taro. Bit smaller though." Ranma thought absentmindedly. She grinned. A good fight was _just_ what she needed. They'd been particularly… lacking as of late. 'Stupid Ryoga… stupid _chivalry_.' Ranma thought angrily, completely unaware of the utter irony involved in her thinking that.

She charged forward at the beast, about seven feet tall with a mane of hair trailing down it's back, and let out a grunt of her own as her foot impacted with it's hastily countering muscled right arm.

She rebounded back and found that the people around her were gaping! Whether at her or the beast she didn't know but she bounded on them.

"Run, you idiots!"

They complied instantly, as if snapping out of a daze. Too late.

Instead of using the musculature the humanoid-beast creature contained, it waved its free hand and a hazy mist spread out from it, as if the being were throwing a net.

In an instant, Ranma realized what was happening. To her horror, she felt the very draw of her own life seeping away from her.

'It steals ki! But… so MUCH!' She thought as she began to feel her own massive ki reserves draining.

Well versed in taking ki from her surroundings, Ranma realized the incredible nature of this technique… and felt almost afraid as her reserves reached about eighty percent, while the people around her began dropping like flies.

"Sh-shimatta!" Ranma exclaimed, her body glowing pink, energy seeping away from her, and took the first course of action necessary.

She felt the other effect too but tore through it as fast as she could; she felt like a slug slithering through mire as she desperately tried to make herself move.

But move she did, and each step made it easier.

A good ole' patented shooting star kick. She flew at the beastly creature and slammed her foot into the ghastly pug nose and rebounded back, once again, to where the group of people were. The beast flew back a good five or six feet before landing in a skidding pile, raking up concrete road with the pressure of her kick.

The mist evaporated in an instant as she felt the drain on her ki give way, and her mobility return to her.

Those not caught by the ki draining technique had already began to run, screaming mad, though a slim few had gone back to reach into the group who had been drained. None of them were unconscious but all of them were feeling the effects. Even Ranma felt weak. It was so fast and powerful! To absorb enough ki from an enemy, even a non hostile one like these people, to make them weak enough to fall unconscious, which is what surely would have happened had she not intervened, … it was… terrifying.

Demonic.

She grabbed two people, both middle-aged women and jumped far from the battle, landed and dropped the two, and went back to repeat. Sixteen people left. She couldn't do it two at a time! Not fast enough.

"C-come on you guys! You gotta go! Get outta here! Stand up! Hurry!" She prodded.

Slowly, the straggling people began to pull to their knees. Those few who hadn't been affected helping those who were. "Come on. Just keep going!" Ranma exclaimed as she hefted three people and limped with them.

It was then that she saw the beast back on its feet again.

"Agrapheron!" It cried its name angrily as it swayed its hand again, this time in an intricate pattern before throwing out the mist once more.

They were almost half way to where she'd dropped off the two women. It would have to do. In an instant she let go of the three, two girls and a boy, that she was holding up, and threw their arms together so they could lean on each other instead of falling.

She blasted over the crowd and into the line of fire that the mist spread out in again.

Without warning she felt herself turned into a deer caught in headlights. Still more nostalgia. 'Happosai…' She thought.

The beast was moving! She tried desperately to force her jello-legs into motion as she felt her very life slipping away from her. Sweat rolled down her cheeks and she fell to one knee.

Much more of this and she knew she would probably fall unconscious. Maybe even die.

She gasped as the beast plundered the depths of her soul. "God… he's… killing me!"

"Agraphere!" It shouted angrily.

And then Ranma knew pain. Electricity blazed through the mist and she let out a salvo to wake the damned as current was blasted through her body.

Her mind worked overtime as she embraced soul of ice, using the very last of her ki to blot out the pain. The ki! Agra, as she decided to call the damn bastard, wasn't using it! Where was it going!?

She discarded the thought. Not now. No use figuring that out now. She _had _to kill it. She was aware of her body screaming but she didn't feel it. She HAD to end it. That attack was lethal. And she would not let people die. Nor herself. She had too much to live for now.

'I do, don't I?' She thought to herself as she charged forward, finally mobile once more to meet the now grinning youma, plowing through the mist abysmally.

It halted the electricity and beyond the soul of ice, she felt her skin weep in joy at the loss of the damnable lightning. Draining… draining… she felt herself weakening even more as she finally reached the monster! Buffering her right hand with what ki she could spare, she caught the heavy swing of the bladed ring, slicing through her reinforcements to cut straight into the palm of her hand as her fist was caught by the beast's, completely ruining her charge.

She winced eyes closing of their own accord, feeling the blade slide further into her skin. That was nothing next to the electric barrage. Within the Soul of Ice she could barely feel it. The beast pushed and more blood spewed from her burning right palm; outwardly she knew she let out a yelp, but she still didn't feel it.

It was another's pain. Not her own. All she had to do was push the pain aside. This beast _would _die. Because she would not die here.

She grit her teeth and suddenly dropped all momentum with her left hand causing him to fall forward, further impaling the bladed ring into her palm.

Even the Soul of Ice couldn't stop the wave of pain that brought. Her hand was going to be severed!

Her left fist moved faster than the eye could see blazing into the creature's abdomen. A hundred times? Two hundred. The beast's eyes opened in shock and the mist faded once again, to Ranma's relief.

And suddenly a glowing golden flash blazed right between them.

"AAAAGRAAA!" The beast screamed hideously as it now stubbed hand back, blood spewing from where it had once been.

Ranma fell to the ground instantly, doing her level best not to let out her own scream, Soul of Ice falling apart as she watched the ring ripped from the flesh in her hand that had become it's scabbard, still attached to the severed hand of the beast. The ring flew away spewing her own blood across the concrete below while the creature roared its malice.

She held her tender right hand in her left as she glared up at Agra. "I won't die here!" She screamed. With that she held up her left hand, letting go of her now numb and limp right.

"_Moko Takabisha!"_ She screamed.

A ball the size of small car erupted from her palm and blasted towards the mewling beast.

The blue ball of light, different from her normal attack in that this one aimed to kill, impacted and exploded, vaporizing the bastard.

Ranma fell to her back, her muscles screaming in fury, her eyes wet, her hand spewing blood, body falling completely limp everywhere as she breathed.

"G-got ya…" She murmured.

The last thing she remembered seeing before consciousness left her was a pair of bright blue eyes, that exuded more power than she'd ever felt in her life.

* * *

A small white cat walked down a narrow alleyway in the back areas of the Nerima ward of Tokyo Japan, intent on her mission. 

"Apollo. Please tell me you have a lead! I know I don't." The white cat asked her charcoal-black companion wearily as it approached her from the other direction.

The black cat sighed sadly, his eyes shining in the dawn's pale light. "I'm sorry, Circe. I wish I did. We've been at this for almost two weeks now but we've found little more than traces of the Auric Era. My guess is that about three of the Senshi are here, none revived of course. And we know the princess is. I just wish I knew where we could… could…

Steps echoed throughout the alleyway as a stranger approached, darkness clouding a decidedly female form.

"Meow!" Circe uttered fervently, and Apollo followed suit.

The girl came into view and had a puzzled look on her face. She held a hand to her ear but appeared to hear nothing. She shook her head.

'Must be imagining things,' Akane thought, curiously. 'Still… coulda sworn I heard voices.'

Then she looked down and saw the two cats. Seconds ago they'd been meowing happily. Now for some strange reason they were… quivering in fear.

She beamed. 'So cute!'

She bent down and began to pet them, wishing she could speak to them. She noticed both of them were beautiful specimens of cats, both with a strange bald spot on their foreheads in the shape of an upward pointing crescent moon. The spots were… silver though. Very strange.

Unbeknownst to her, a symbol appeared on her own forehead. A straight line crossing through a musical note.

The two cats openly gaped, causing Akane to back up on shock at the open hanging mouths of two cats.

They looked so… human!

After finally recovering from the shock of having one of the Senshi they'd been diligently searching for, for the past two weeks literally stumble onto them, they turned to each other and nodded, even as they quaked in slight fear.

So the first Senshi to be revived after twenty thousand years of sleep would be Aoide. It made them both shiver at the implications, of her being the first to awaken. The Senshi of Song. Terror of the Auric Era. The Senshi so powerful she was feared by all the people of the Era.

The Senshi who could destroy a planet.

But they'd found her. If she was to be the first then that was the way it was.

"Sailor Senshi Aoide." Circe said in a straight, punctuated voice, shocking the girl out of her wits.

"Don't worry about it. We know you can't speak…" Apollo added kindly, and Akane's eyes widened.

'Senshi?' Akane thought. 'No way…'

"You are the Senshi of Song, Sailor Aoide." Said the female white cat.

Akane wasn't sure if it was really worth it but she held up a sign. "I'm dreaming, aren't I?" It said plainly.

The cats looked questioningly at the sign before shrugging it off.

Circe did a spinning twirl and then, there within her teeth, lay a scroll, tied together with an incredibly bright yellow ribbon. "Take this, and say, Aoide Power Make-up! You'll find yourself able to speak when you try to."

Akane stared at the cat and the paper. Then the other cat. Then the paper. Then the other cat again.

Then she pinched herself. Pain. Okay…

A really realistic dream then.

She shrugged. Might as well go along with it.

She picked up the scroll, and found within her the urge to say those very words. She tried and… to her amazement…

"_Aoide Power, Make Up!"_

In that instant, all thoughts of this being a dream evaporated in a swirl of color. The words flew off her tongue and in seconds the world was arrayed in a dazzling display of… sound, seeming both new and familiar. She didn't understand it. Her entire conception of reality became that of music! The two cats before her each had a song of their own. The stone beneath her, the earth itself far below exuding a deep sounding hum. The buildings, mewling in their metallic ring. Trees, rich and lyrical, the cat's songs sang in a pianissimo alto.

She barely noticed the lights flashing around her body as she watched the world. The black bodysuit mixed with a bright yellow fuku, boots, and gloves, all trimmed with the same black. The great ribbon of the same brilliant yellow, one on her front and back. The tiara flaring silver on her forehead, with a small yellow gem in the middle.

But she did feel the power. Power beyond even her wildest belief roared within her. God…! Ryoga wouldn't stand a chance! E-even Ranma!

She breathed heavily. In and out… in and out… She pulled at muscles that had been missing for ages and a hum appeared. A hum in an extremely flat C Sharp, the music translated into her mind. This was… amazing… too incredible to be a dream or not incredible enough.

"I… I don't believe it." She breathed, speaking for the first time in what seemed forever.

There were no words to describe her joy. No way to fully tell how good it felt to hear sound produced by herself. Simple words, taken for granted by everyone else, restored to her once more!

It felt like a little piece of heaven.

"I can… I can… You… wonderful, beautiful, little cats!" She exclaimed, her eyes glistening with pure joy.

She swept the cats into an embrace before they could even think about moving and hugged them to her black fuku-ed form.

Tears trailed down her eyes as she nuzzled the cats as affectionately as she'd once done to her ex-fiancée. "Thank you… so much…"

"Wh-what is your name, Miss?" The male cat, the black one, asked, when the girl finally managed to let them go. The fear they'd felt before, an ingrained thought since they'd had little contact with the Senshi of Song back in the days of the Auric era, had evaporated at the hug and tears the girl exuded. This girl would not destroy a planet.

"I-I'm Akane!" She exclaimed.

The cat beamed, still quaking at the thought of being held by the most destructive Senshi in existence. "Well then Akane. Welcome to the ranks of the Sailor Senshi! You're the first to awaken!"

"R-really!?" Akane exclaimed giddily.

"I'm Apollo, Miss Akane-chan." The black cat said, his masculine tone leaving no question to his gender.

"And I am Circe. It's good to see you again, Princess Aoide." Circe continued, similarly confirming hers.

The fear the cats had projected earlier had gone right over the blue-haired girl's head. 'Just as it had back then.' Circe thought. 'She'd never known people were afraid of her.'

Akane looked over her suit. "It's… black…" She murmured. "I love it! Will I get to meet Sailor Moon!? I heard she left from her home and everything when people found out her identity… Do you know where she is?"

The cats looked back, uncomprehending. "Sailor Moon? Moon, did you say?"

Akane stared at the cats, incredulously. "Are you kidding? You're looking for Senshi and you haven't heard of Sailor Moon!?" It felt so strange to talk again. Her voice was… strangled and strange… not lilty like it once was but it was a voice. God. She could speak!

Twin head shakes greeted the girl. "Sailor Moon. Warrior of love and Justice?" Akane asked, trying to raise a memory.

The two cats put their heads together. "If this 'sailor moon' is actually from the moon…" Apollo began, "then she might be who we're looking for." Circe finished.

Akane blinked. "Looking for? What's going on?"

The cat turned back to Akane, suddenly extremely serious. "Our goal, Akane… Senshi Aoide, our mission, is to find the Moon Princess and protect her at all costs. If we don't, she'll surely be killed."

Akane's eyes widened. "Wh-what!? Then we have to find Usagi! That's her name. Sailor Moon's name I mean. I can protect her! It must be her!"

The two cats looked speculative for a moment. "It seems too easy. She shouldn't already be revived. Has any who held the moon's power ever come into it without the aid of another?" Circe asked.

Apollo grimaced. "I don't know… I can't remember much of anything past thirty or forty years before the long sleep. All I remember is an evil man… who wanted to kill the princess."

"Uhm… what are you guys talking about? Talking about? About? Guys?" Akane said, repeating words for the sheer joy of repeating them.

Circe sighed and turned to the first senshi they had found. "Aoide. There is something you must know. And something we must determine."

"Y-yes?" Akane asked, almost afraid at the level of seriousness the white cat was directing at her.

"Sailor Aoide. Akane. I know the world seems bright; from what I've been told, the world seen through the eyes of song is a magnificent sight to behold. You will be able to manipulate that world from now on in your human form even, though to a lesser degree." The cat said seriously.

Akane nodded. "O-Okay…"

"Akane." Apollo continued. "Within you is enough power to destroy an entire planet… The Senshi of Song, who could sing a planet to sleep. That is your legacy, Aoide."

A moment passed as Akane drank the words in.

Then she burst out laughing. "Sure, sure! Well anyways, anyways, I don't think I'll be… beeee… singing any lullabies to planets anytime soon!" She said with a giddy smirk. "I can't wait to tell Ryoga! Ryoga!" She exclaimed.

"NO!" Both the cats shouted simultaneously.

Akane 'eeped' at their intensity. Then glared. "Why not?! You restore my voice and then won't let me use it?"

The cats sighed… "The Senshi of Song's voice is… a strange thing, Akane-chan. When you leave your transformed state, you will once again, no longer have vocal chords… you won't be able to talk unless you are in your Senshi form." Circe replied.

"Oh…" Akane sighed. "And… I have to keep my identity secret right?"

"Yes." Came the tart reply.

Akane pondered for a moment. The news of Sailor Moon being Usagi Tsukino, a girl perhaps a year or less younger than herself, had been a shock to the entire country. The girl's disappearance, and the fact that she still hadn't been found and had only been seen once during a youma attack which she promptly dispatched of, were an even bigger shock.

It was common knowledge that Sailor Moon had finally ended the upsurge in youma attacks, in a final battle with some monstrous being at the North Pole. Apparently not completely ended but the girl was definitely around, even if her Senshi had died.

But, the point was, the attacks were pretty much over. It was assumed that the only youma attacking these days were leftovers from that epic battle. Honestly, Akane couldn't believe half the rumors she heard about that battle. People sure did like stories.

If the attacks were finished though, what was she needed for? "Who is trying to kill the Moon Princess?" She asked.

The cats gave a simultaneous sigh once again. "We don't know. We were sent by Sailor Liopolis, the sixth and final Senshi. She told us this exactly." Apollo said solemnly. Then the male cat began to recite. "The Moon Princess has followed her heart to the other side. Look for the last world of life. Find her, Find her Senshi, and protect her with everything you have. Otherwise, great death approaches. My gates will overflow with the sorrow of unlived life, if the Moon Princess is not found. The budding crystal kingdom will never come to fruition and life's last bastion in this galaxy shall perish."

Liopolis? Aiode? These weren't any planets she'd ever heard of but all the Senshi so far had been named after planets. Celestial bodies at least.

"Her… gates?" Akane asked. "I'm confused. Basically we need to protect the Moon Princess or else people are going to die, right?" She said, shrugging off the gates thing.

The cats blinked. The summation was rather blunt but it got the job done. Circe nodded.

"So…" Akane drawled, "What do I do now?"

Two twin pairs of googly, cuddly, eyes greeted the girl. "You… wouldn't give two starving cats… a place to stay… would you…? Miss Akane-chan?" Circe asked pitifully.

Akane couldn't help but chuckle. "Sure! I don't think anyone will mind… now that Ranma's moved out at least." Her tone faltered to a sad grimace as she finished that sentence. Ranma. God she missed her but… it was for the best. She would always love the baka; it just simply wasn't meant to be.

The cats gave twin beams to the girl. "Thank you! Akane-chan!"

"Okay. I can do that." Akane said happily. She sighed realizing that she was going to be late for school if she waited much longer. She turned and began to walk out of the alleyway. Then stopped. "Uhm… how do I change out of this?"

The cats sighed. New Senshi was always such a _bother_!

* * *

Shampoo flew like the wind, gliding along the fence as fast as she could. Three deliveries! Fifteen Minutes! Three ends of town! 

No one but Shampoo could do something like that! No one!

Well… except for Baka-Mousse she reluctantly admitted. And Ranma probably could if her great grandmother had ever trusted her erstwhile ex-husband with the tedious task of delivery.

No. Her Great-grandmother found it much more entertaining to keep Ranma at the restaurant those few times she'd worked with them.

Shampoo sighed. She still loved Ranma. Which was strange. She'd loved him as a man. As the strongest man known to exist in centuries. In the privacy of her heart she'd finally conceded the fact that Ranma was more than better than her. Something that she had only recently admitted to herself.

Far better.

Now that she was a full woman, she was in her rightful position as the strongest of her era. Strongest of her age of _any_ era, or so her Great-grandmother told her.

She felt she might have been content with that. But… why was it that she still felt love for her?

Despite the lucid rumors that fluctuated around this backwater world that was Japan, the proud Amazon's had _never_ engaged in lesbianism. It was just unheard of! Almost sickening when she really thought about it.

Yet when Ranma came to her mind… She saw herself with the red-head… happy. It wasn't the picture perfect image she'd kept in her mind of her and her husband training together, _he_ teaching _her _to become a greater warrior, defying nature itself! She gave herself a little smile every time she thought of that particular image. Oh wouldn't the council have a hayday at that!? The greatest of their village second only to man! Hah! Served them right!

'Baka Council. Is too too stupid old traditions! Need update!' She thought absentmindedly as she carried out a delivery, speaking without even thinking of the words, collecting yen and returning less, like a robot, dashing off and bounding her bicycle onto the nearest fence, then directly onto the highway that swept around the outside of the city.

But that was an old dream now. A sad dream now. The type of dream that made her cry when no one was watching. Ranma… She wished…

Aw, who was she kidding? She'd been there at Mount Phoenix. She'd seen the fury in the raven haired boy's eyes, spawned by the violent girl's peril.

She knew she would never invoke such passion in Ranma. But still… she wished she could have had a chance. Now it seemed no one would get him. Unless they had no problems with just the red-head.

And despite how much she loved Ranma, she knew that she DID have a problem with that.

She sighed, putting the thoughts in the back of her mind and a happy grin on her face as she picked up the pace. Speed! God how she loved speed!

She raced along happily, flashing by faster than any bicyclist in recorded history.

That's when she suddenly heard a sound.

She looked to her left, rising for the first time in a while from her thoughts, to see a boy.

"Ha ha! Shampoo love this!" She exclaimed as she saw the foolish boy riding beside her, well past the speed limit himself, revving the engine of the motorcycle.

Boys were terrified little chickens by nature. Most of them anyway. Oh how she _loved_ putting them to shame! Their metal and their engines! Pathetic!

She upped the pace. He kept up of course. She hadn't even _begun_!

Eighty Miles per hour was nothing.

"Shampoo think pretty boy, too too stuuupiid!" She exclaimed, waving to the boy on the motorcycle cheerfully. "She think pretty boy can't keep up! Will see!!"

And then she began. Blasting away, her legs moving like lightning made flesh she boosted ahead of the motorcycle, going at least a hundred miles per hour across the highway on the outskirts of the town.

Unsurprisingly, the boy tried to keep up. Surprisingly, he did so.

Shampoo smirked. "Brave one! Stupid. But brave. Shampoo give that!"

The boy, to her _almost_ astonishment, let one hand go from the handlebars and threw off his sturdy helmet letting it fly behind them into the wind. "Come on! This the best _you_ got!?" The boy taunted, his hair flapping in the wind. Short and blond, he radiated confidence. Speed was nothing.

Shampoo had never seen a motorcyclist lift his hand from the bars at over eighty. Let alone a hundred.

She still wasn't impressed as she watched him speed past her.

"Okay pretty boy!" She screamed.

Her legs burst into overdrive. A hundred twenty miles per hour? A hundred thirty? Hmph.

She didn't know past that but what she did know was that she had passed the place where she was supposed to deliver her food. And the boy was still breaking even with her!

She grit her teeth. This boy _was_ brave! "You not so bad!" She exclaimed to the boy break-necking beside her.

The boy turned to her and grinned. "Aw come on! This is just warm up!"

Shampoo's legs having reached the maximum human capacity strained with just keeping up, as the blonde sped up again.

"Okay. Shampoo impressed. Boy brave! Shampoo see if stupid boy have skill to follow bravery!" She shouted, wind drowning out her words, but not so much that he couldn't hear her.

She blasted her bike into the air, curving it at a ninety degree angle and stopped in an instant, landing on a fence post aligned to an off-turning road, then in the same fluid motion, blasted off in the direction of the center of town, towards her next delivery point.

The cyclist, obviously unable to turn at such a degree sped right on by.

Shampoo smirked. "Baaaaka." She murmured. She had to admit. The insult had its merits.

She continued on her way, moving at about half the pace she had maxed out at on the highway.

Quite fast all in all.

So she was quite surprised to see a motorcycle fly through the air, appearing to have jumped over a house! And land right on the street three paces affront her!

Okay. NOW Shampoo was impressed. She grit her teeth. She would _not _lose!

"Stupid boy! You good! Shampoo better! You see if you keep up!" She exclaimed.

She turned again, blasting off towards they way they had been coming, preparing to take the scenic route to her delivery point. She rode on the fence for another two blocks, perhaps three and then made the real challenge for the wayward cyclist below.

"Let's see stupid boy catch Shampoo on roofs!"

And she did just that! Bounding her bike to the roofs she blasted away towards the delivery point.

She looked down. Left. Right. Nothing!

"Ha Ha! Shampoo win!"

A loud roaring of an engine _ahead_ of her, though admittedly NOT on the rooftops sent her into a raging fury, as the blonde boy looked back and flashed a grin of confidence so palpable Shampoo began to think that it was Ranma in disguise.

"Rrrrrr! Shampoo show you!"

Blast! Jump. Jump. Jump. Blast!

Sonic cracks began forming in her wake as she jumped two and three buildings with every kick of the pedals.

Still the cyclist kept up, weaving between the small number of cars and people dotting the road like a madman.

"Boy is crazy!" She screamed.

And suddenly, without warning, something unexpected happened.

"Pfft!" her tire exclaimed hatefully.

Shampoo only had a precious few seconds to realize what happened as she was flung face first from the bicycle and sent flying.

'Oh… Shampoo hope Great-grandmother not get too angry.' She thought as she flew towards the concrete bracing herself for impact.

'Baka Shampoo.' She thought as she closed her eyes seconds before impact.

Thud!

"Jeezus Christ! Are you insane! I'm all for a good race but not if you're gonna kill yourself! You're on a bike for god's sake! You shouldn't _expect_ to beat a cycle!" Phased in words as Shampoo's head wrung.

Surprisingly she didn't hurt. She rolled over and looked up to find herself in a quite unusual positon.

"Stupid boy?" She asked, cradled within the biker's arms.

"You're one to talk!" The boy exclaimed, staring down into her eyes.

"You… You catch Shampoo?" She asked.

The boy rolled his eyes. "Of course I caught ya! You didn't think I'd just let you fall did you?" She asked. "What kinda man would I be?"

At that moment, Shampoo felt herself swept away in a way only Ranma had ever done. "Sh-Shampoo… Impressed. Stup.. ah… boy is good."

The man grinned. "All in the wrist." He said, exuding that same confidence.

Shampoo flushed. "Shampoo… uhm… Shampoo grateful! Many thanks to boy for catching Shampoo!"

The boy looked at her curiously. "Jap not your first language is it?"

Shampoo's eyes widened, still more impressed. "No. Most stupid people think Shampoo just stupid. Shampoo speak Amazon mandarin!" She exclaimed happily.

The man smiled. "Thought so. So… I guess your name is Shampoo?" He asked, prompting a nod.

He grinned. "Well then Shampoo, you are most definitely psychotic!"

Shampoo felt her face flush. "Uhm… Shampoo… sorry. Not be so crazy… next time." She muttured, twidling her fingers nervously.

It was then that she realized the boy was actually holding her cradled in his hands, his bike thrown across the ground and skidded into a building.

The boy had _leapt_ from the bike and landed catching her! Going almost a hundred miles per hour!

"S-Sugoi!" She murmured staring at the bike, leaning fully on it's side, skid marks following all the way to the wall it had crashed into. She wasn't even certain if _she _could leap from her bicycle and catch a falling body whilst moving at a hundred miles an hour and land on her feet! Without landing on her feet sure she could, but that last one took skill!

The man grinned. "Yeah. It's probably trashed but damn that was worth it! Best race I've ever had I tell ya! Even the end!"

He shook his head, blonde locks waving. "Think you can stand, beautiful?" He asked with a grin.

"Mmm!" Shampoo nodded. "That nothing! Shampoo win if stupid tire not pop! Uhm… What… uhm… name?" She asked quakily. She'd always hated asking people for their names, preferring to give them her own names instead.

But… she owed this one. He probably wouldn't like 'stupid boy.'

"Haruka. Haruka Tenoh. Pleased to meet ya, Miss Shampoo!" He exclaimed as he placed her on her feet and gave a flourish, hair waving in the wind.

Shampoo giggled at his antics, and flushed as the felt a rush of attraction that paralleled the feelings she got around Ranma.

"So. Would you mind granting me the privilege of helping you find your bike, M'lady?" He asked astutely.

Still flushed, she nodded. "Thank you." She murmured, still twiddling her fingers.

She realized with sudden alarm that what she was thinking was betrayal to both her tribal laws _and_ Ranma. But… but…

She gave a guilty smile at his goofy grin. 'Shampoo want to be happy…' She thought. With that she beamed at him. 'Maybe… Maybe it fate?'

He offered his _hand_ of all things and, without another thought, she took it, finding it quite firm. She couldn't help but compare to Ranma's own gentle touch. All in all he came quite close if in a completely different way.

'Fate…' She wondered.

* * *

She hated it. She hated it, she hated it, she hated it! Why!? Why was it all that anyone ever cared about!? Why couldn't anyone just! JUST…! 

Go without it!?

Sex! It's all anyone ever talked about any more. 'Did you hear? Binaka had sex with Kaza!' Couldn't they just figure out that she didn't _care?_ That she didn't want anything to do with it!?

…

That was a lie…

…

'Uhhhn… Why me…?' She sighed, mentally, even as thoughts that made cold flow right up her spine drenched her mind.

"I… I'm sorry… Kashi… I'm… I'm saving myself for marriage! I've told you that…" A lie. Nothing but a big, stupid lie!

The boy looked downtrodden and gave a sigh, and then a sad smile. "I love you… you know that, Right Setsuna?"

Setsuna nodded and looked into his eyes, happy that they did appear to exhibit quite a profound example of love for her.

That made her feel warm, yet guilty. She tipped her head down to the floor, losing the contact with his loving eyes. "I… I know… I'm sorry… I want to… really I do but…"

He reached out to her and caressed her chin with his hand. "Hey… I understand, Set. I love you." He said. "You've got no reason to look all guilty like that. Sides… that's one of the things about you I love most."

He winked causing her to smile. He always knew the best words to use…

"I-I… thanks Kashi…" She let go. "I'm really sorry."

"Don't be. See ya tonight, kay? Ja!" He exclaimed, then dashed off.

She let out a sigh… "I'm such an idiot…" She thought to herself, trying to decide whether to tell her boyfriend or not. To tell him she had genophobia and just get it over with or hang on in the hope that he would stay with her despite the fact that she didn't think she'd _ever_ be capable of 'putting out' for him.

She turned and slammed her fist into the locker, and instantly regretted it as she hopped up and down, desperately clutching her blaring knuckles.

"Itai! That was really stupid!" She shouted once she'd calmed down.

She left the school building. She loved walking home. It was always so relaxing… sun at its sixty degree angle from the horizon, brightly blaring freedom to all sixteen year old students such as herself.

It always made her feel good. Not as good as the moonlight. _Nothing_ couldn't compare to the emotions the moon gave her. She never really understood why either.

A sinking feeling greeted her. One she was more than familiar with. She'd always felt something was missing. She'd used to think that it was love until she'd met Kashi. They'd dated and she was quite certain she'd fallen in love with him.

Yet that something was _still _missing.

So lately she'd begun think that it was sex. Her largest fear… She shivered every time she thought about it and had decided that it couldn't be it. How could sex be the thing to fill the empty hole that she had always hidden in her heart?

No. It wasn't sex.

But what could it be? She felt lonely and sad. And old, though she was most definitely not old at the youthful age of sixteen.

"Jeez… Today was a terrible da—!"

Suddenly, a black hole appeared below her and before she even knew what was happening, the green-haired beauty fell in.

In an instant she was falling, faster and farther then she'd ever fallen off of anything. Her stomach was fluttering in utter panic and she screamed.

"Wh-what's happening!!?" She shouted to the darkness surrounding her.

And, as fast as it had begun, she stopped. She didn't hit the ground. Didn't impact. Just stopped, floating.

The darkness around her poured in as her vision cleared and she opened her eyes. The weightlessness she felt was surreal and she quaked in terror.

"Wh-where am I…?" She asked the darkness.

"Home, Setsuna. You are home." Came a deep masculine voice in a seductive manner.

Setsuna gulped. "Wh-who are you?" She begged fitfully.

She could_ feel_ the man smirk at her! Smirk! She couldn't help the indignant anger that rose as his chuckle filled the air. "Oh don't be surprised Setsuna. You did the same thing to me last time. I'm just repaying the favor!"

Suddenly a hollow glow filled the world and she touched ground, and gasped in relief. Mist, grey and wafting floated about her everywhere, and despite her feet finally being on solid ground, she still felt weightless. "Wh-where am I?" She repeated.

A man appeared, giving a face to the darkness. "Home, as I told you."

He stood, wreathed in a cloak made entirely from billowing black smoke that was only a visible against the grey mist of the floor. He was tall, more-so than herself, which was strange. Caucasian, with unruly blonde hair that stretched down to his neckline. Muscles seemed outlined within the smoke, giving the impression that just beneath that strange wafting cloak he was naked.

It made Setsuna blush a bit but she was more thank capable of keeping her mind focused. "Why'd you bring me here!?" She demanded. "Who are you, and where the hell am I?" She exclaimed.

"Touchy touchy!" He replied, playfully, the dark and deep voice now gone. "I was just playing with you Suna-chan!"

"I don't find _this-" _she exclaimed pointing the world of pure darkness and hazy mist, "Funny!"

He shrugged. "It's not like you wouldn't have come into it on your own in the next two years or so anyway. I was just helping you along. I've waited for… a long time… Suna-chan."

"Who the heck ARE you!?" She screamed, her voice now squealing in fury.

Dammit! She just wanted to be like everyone else! But no! Now she'd been kidnapped and even THAT wasn't normal!

It made her want to cry!

"Come on. I bet you know who I am. Say the first name to come to mind." He said with a smirk. Suddenly he shrugged, brought a hand up and rubbed his eyes, as if wiping away tears.

'Lio.' Her mind thought instantly. 'This is Lio.'

She blinked. "Th-that's ridiculous! I've never seen you before in my life!"

The man hesitated. "You remember… nothing?" He asked, now almost pitifully.

"Never in my life!" She repeated angrily. 'Lio. You know him! Lio!'

"Ah, but in your _last _one…" He said and trailed off. "You… really don't remember anything…? I'd hoped…"

Setsuna shivered. "M-my last life?"

'This is Lio!' Her mind screamed at her again blazing madly at the back of her skull.

He smiled as an epiphany seemed to wash over him. "Perhaps you will recognize me better like this."

He brought his arm forward and it fell out from under the misty cloak revealing a normal muscular arm with a scroll of paper in it. Tied to that paper was a small white ribbon.

"_Liopolis Planet Power Makeup."_ He said quietly.

The cloak of smoke blasted away from him and his face became less narrow. Adams apple disappeared and he… shrunk. Feminine curves accentuating a black suit with a white fuku boots, gloves and a silver tiara with a white gem in the middle all appeared on her as if brought there by magic.

Setsuna's jaw dropped. "Y-your one of the Sailor Senshi! But… I've never seen a black one before!"

The girl smiled. "So are you. My opposite. You are my chain as I am yours. Do you remember nothing, Setsuna?"

Setsuna gulped. It would be fine if this were all freaking her out beyond all reason, but it was striking a chord in her that made her heart beat. A chord that beat eerily close to the emptiness. To the feeling of something she was missing that she'd always felt. "Lio…" She murmured. "L-Lio?" Then she questioned.

The Senshi had already been smiling. But at those words tears began falling down her cheeks. S-Setsuna… I knew… I knew you would remember… T-Time is your playground! But I was so afraid, you wouldn't remember anything."

Setsuna backed up. "D-did I… say something wrong?" She asked concerned. Then she smacked herself mentally.

'Great Setsuna! Fall for your kidnapper acting mushy! Real smart!' She said thought to herself sarcastically.

Then another voice. A memory. A long forgotten part of her soul told her something else. 'It is _Rebirth!_ You can trust him with your life. You know this. _Time_.'

She shivered with the conflicting emotions.

"R-Rebirth?" She asked. The woman in the Senshi uniform gave an even louder sob and sunk to her knees, hugging herself.

With that an impulse, so strong that Setsuna couldn't possibly resist, swept over her. Like standing on the side of a cliff, the small urge to just throw oneself over, magnified a hundred fold. Setsuna rushed forward and embraced the girl, holding her tighter than anyone she'd ever held.

"Lio!"

"Time… Oh Time… I missed you…"

Weeping into the other girl's shoulder she could only nod, trying to understand why she was crying. "Rebirth… Lio. I don't understand… who you are… But…"

"I'll never let you go again, Setsuna. Never again." The girl moaned, sending a jolt of excitement and joy up Setsuna's spine.

"I know you won't Lio. I know…" She murmured. And for that one moment, the thing that she'd always been missing… the thing she'd always longed for… had finally been found.

"Lio…"

* * *

**End Chapter**

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**It has come to my attention, after watching the first two seasons of the Sailor Moon anime (god forgive me.) That In all honesty, and despite many fanatically hating fanon's (or perhaps fan-offs), "Tuxedo Kamen-Sama" Is not NEARLY the weakling they make him out to be.**

**The only times he leaves the fights that Moon and the others are in is when he is sure they can win. When he does fight, he nigh on ALWAYS kicks the ass of enemy youma, and he DOES fight. The only problem is that his signature entrance is that rose and people seem to lose sight of the fact that he engages in the enemy as often or even MORE often the senshi (excluding Usagi) do! During the First season there was about one time near the end that he actually took a single hit(excluding his subsequent death shortly thereafter).**

**Gotta admit I'm slightly annoyed at just how much he's been butchered by fanon. Oh well.**

**Now to the real Author's notes.**

**Oh well. I hope this chapter was enjoyed! I get the feeling that I've struck gold with this idea. Personally giving myself props on the Shampoo/Haruka scene! . I feel the sheer comedy I hope that scene produced is of a level akin to about three lower then girl days! I would be content with that. **

**This is an 'angst' fic after all. Can't get TOO funny, though I realize this first chapter was mostly fluff.**

**Other random Muses.**

**Heh. Weebee… come on… you KNOW I've always been an astute fan of the locked fics. I know you know that. Of course it was only a matter of time before an original idea struck me with all the force of a hammer. Seriously. Has anyone ever seen me write fourteen thousand words in under two weeks? Anyone? Come on.**

**Well. Smiles is coming, slowly. Mark is on hold for the first time ever. Sorry all. With RJ's death bumming me out I'm not in the mood for WoT.**

**Damn bastard.**

**After writing this story it has also come to my attention that the word 'aisle' is probably one of the most confusing words in the English language. A S I L E. Someone tell me why? It could be spelled Ile, or Eyal or Aial but NOOO. Webster had to be a dick and confuse us all. Seriously. It must have taken me fifteen minutes to figure out how to write the damn word because I refused to spell check or to figure it out! And that's not even _mentioning _the other word form which is just as confusing! ISLE! OMG WTFH?**

**Random like I said… sorry.**

**As to Liopolis. He's sorta taking the place of Setsuna in this fic. Setsuna was the 'know all be all' of the Second season. The 'behind the scenes' coordinator. Lio is gonna be quite like that. More for that match-up will be explained as well as I continue.**

**Lets see… One more thing before my chaptual beg for reviews.**

**Aoide is shamelessly stolen from greek mythology and is the goddess of Song. A cookie goes to whoever figures out where I got Liopolis from, and the reasoning behind it. It should be a bit more difficult. Two cookies to someone who knows the answer without the net!**

**Alrighty, that's all the meaningless stuff. Now the important thing! "Pwease Review?"**** I DID spend the past two weeks plugging away at this fic in nigh on CONSTANT effort. While honestly I would continue this piece of brilliance (to me anyway) if I didn't even conjure a single review, they do so make writing all the more enjoyable!**

**Till Next!**

**MB**


	3. Soothing

**Disclaimer:**** Don't own Ranma ½ or Sailor Moon.**

* * *

**-Chapter Two-  
****-Soothing-**

* * *

Weary eyes drifted open as pain filtered in to the red-head's thinking system. Where was she?

"Uhhhn…" She moaned deliriously, consciousness slowly fading in.

"Thank god…" Came a hoarse whisper. "Thank god…"

"What… What happened?" Ranma moaned, her eyesight fading in slowly, to settle on the image of a blonde haired girl with twin ponytails, longer than any Ranma had seen.

"Y-you're! Ack—!" Ranma screamed as she tried to get up and pain jolted through her body. Pain and weakness.

"Don't get up! You're still weak… I'd never seen someone drained so far before! Most people just fall unconscious, and after that the youma leave them alone! Baka! Why didn't you just leave him to me! I know you knew I was there when I sliced its arm off!" The irate blonde screamed, words ringing in Ranma's pained ears.

Ranma sighed weakly and fell back, her head resting in the blonde's lap. "My fight! And… People… they were still 'round… had ta be sure…"

Ranma felt her consciousness slipping once again. God she was tired. Maybe… maybe it'd be okay to fall asleep here… this lap was comfortable…

The blonde girl just gave a sad smile, staring down at the fallen martial artist, an impressed look on her face that Ranma didn't get to see. "Baka… you really are as good as you told me…"

Ranma's half-delirious eyes had closed again by now but she murmured. "Only… Tomboy calls me… baka…" The last word so quiet Sailor Moon could barely hear it.

She panicked. "No! No you need to stay awake! I think…! C'mon Ranma! D-don't die… I couldn't take it if…" She grew angry at her pitiful state. "You won't die."

The disguise pen came to her from its personal keep spot and she held it aloft. "Moon Power Disguise: Turn me into a doctor!" She screamed.

Putting more magic behind the pen than ever before, the information from the silver millennium blasted through her mind as she took on the form of a surgical medic from twenty thousand years ago.

"You won't die."

She turned towards Ranma and examined the girl with the newfound knowledge brought to her by the pen and was relieved to find that the girl was only resting.

She chuckled a bit to herself. "All worried over her just being tired. Shoulda' known the Ginsuishou would heal her… baka bunny." She knocked herself on the head making a stupid face and then looked back down to the girl whose head still lay in her lap. Red Chinese shirt caressed her small form, fitting her perfectly along with a pair of long blue pants, tight looking on the girl, holding to her skin. Around her neck lay a locket of pure gold.

"You sure are pretty, Ranma-chan." She murmured. "Make's it real hard to believe you were a boy…"

On impulse, she reached for the small string tying the short girl's hair and undid it, letting her long hair fall down to caress the soft floor of her forest home.

As she lifted the comatose girl, she didn't notice that the redhead was stirring.

That she was dreaming.

* * *

Golden light permeated the entire world making it twinkle below her as if it were a miniature sun. A city so enormous that it made the mountains in the distance look like ant hills loomed still farther below herself within her tall spire.

She felt herself staring out the windows of golden tint, looking over her vast city. Her father's city, but it would be hers one day. Then she could change it.

Then she could do it right.

A paralyzing sound of metallic churning echoed behind her. "No! Please N—!" Then the voice was silenced.

She turned around directing a glare at her father, a bored expression on his face and a pair of legs, the upper body missing, lying at his feet. At his own glare, anticipating hers, she relented shyly and turned back to the windows.

"You're a bad man, papa…" Whispered the tiny voice of the young girl, no older than eight. "And someday… I'm going to kill you."

* * *

Ranma's eyes opened instantly. She'd been dreaming. That she knew. But it was gone. Her dreams were never remembered upon waking.

Curiously, she felt better than she could ever remember. She sat up groggily, yet contently and found herself lying in a bed. Her own bed at the Saotome Manor.

"H-how'd I get home?" She asked herself, then answered. "Sailor Moon."

"Ranma! Breakfast going to be ready in about fifteen minutes! Hurry up or you're going to be late, dear!" Came a honey sweet voice from below, along with a scent of steamed rice and miso.

While her nose followed the scent of the rice, her mind focused solely on the previous day. Her eyes trailed down to her palm and found resting there a scar, fully healed over, but prominent enough to prove yesterday's events had actually happened.

She felt refreshed and lighter then she ever had. Sweeping up out of her bed she saw that her clothes were still the same shredded scraps from yesterday. Thank god for that.

She took them off quickly, not wanting to miss breakfast. Grabbing a pair of the same, though a cleaner version, she leapt into the hallway and into the bathroom.

She sighed in relief at finding the room empty of all occupants, mainly her father, as he and her mother were the only other ones who lived in this enormous house.

Throwing off the remaining clothes that adorned her, that being underwear, she began to bathe herself as normal.

"That fight yesterday… that technique… If I could figure that out I bet I could beat the old ghoul no problem!" She thought to herself.

As she lay in the furoh a thousand thoughts crossed her mind. What she wanted out of life had not changed with her gender like so much else had. She still wanted to be the best at martial arts ever and she was proud to say she'd still never been truly defeated. Not when it counted.

But yesterday was too close.

Another twenty minutes soaking left her feeling a bit dizzy, as was common_now_. To her eternal chagrin she pulled herself out of the furoh and dried herself unconsciously, her mind completely on the events of the day before.

Sailor Moon. She remembered talking to her. Remembered her blonde-haired form hovering over her, laying her head in the girl's lap. A sweet scent of mint cakes came to mind thinking about the girl along with the memory of that astounding power.

"She was so… strong…!" Ranma murmured to herself, as she threw her clothes on, hair half dried. She knew that she herself exuded a rather magnificent aura, when she wished… but Sailor Moon's was on an entirely different level.

Level? Hell, an entirely different _plane_. As if she wasn't even human. It made her shiver a bit, just like Saffron had, but, in a throw down, she knew she would probably still win anyways. She was _Ranma_after all.

Besides, she doubted she would end up fighting Sailor Moon.

The pillow the girl's lap had made for her came vaguely to mind and she blushed. "God, I hope not."

She left the room and quickly hopped down the stairs, deep in thought over what she should DO? Find a way to thank Sailor Moon? She did owe her a debt. But… how?

"B-boy!" Came her father's stutter. Wait…? Stutter? He sounded utterly shocked.

"Pops?" She asked, almost concerned.

"Y-your hair!" The man exclaimed.

Ranma, being narcissistic but in the most masculine way possible, did not contain a mirror in her room, and did not care to look at the one in the bathroom, so therefore had not noticed the fact that her hair was spilling down her shoulders, completely unpinned and forgotten whilst she thought about Sailor Moon, the kitchen's smells distracting her even further.

She gulped for a moment and unconsciously reached back to touch it. "Uh… s-so!?" She asked. "I… do you have string?" She asked sheepishly.

Genma Saotome had been… adjusting, possibly as much as Ranma had been to this new girl in his son's shoes.

…

Just his shoes. She'd changed her other clothes to fit her female form.

He was not a bad man, as many considered him to be, nor even a very bad father. He'd thought he had been doing the best thing for his boy, keeping him and Akane engaged. The obvious signs of attraction Ranma and Akane had displayed even from when they first met, had been so blatant that he couldn't possibly have ended the engagement. Honestly, if there had truly been nothing there, he _would_ have ended it.

And there _had_ been something. There _had been._ Genma had never felt happier than he had that day when his son-turned-daughter walked in the door to the Tendo home holding the Tendo martial artist's hand.

Two short months was all that fire and love had taken to melt away. All thanks to Ranma's condition. He knew when a woman wanted a _man_. And despite his seeming gender confusion when referring to his son, he knew that Ranma was… changing.

And_here_ was the evidence.

By god, was it evidence!

He was not a man prone to gaping, even at an excruciatingly beautiful woman, his wife included.

But… his daughter now _defined_ beauty. _Personified_ it even. Even in her normal casual Chinese shirt and pants, now form fitted for her feminine persona, he had never seen the boy with his hair down. Not once.

Until now…

God, how could he _possibly_ think of his boy as a boy after seeing… _this!?_

Thus the illiterate response after several awkward moments of staring. "Uhh… I… think there's… uhm… wh-what did you ask again? Ran… ma…?"

Ranma's eye twitched as she stared at her now gaping father, his eyes scanning her in surprise. Not disappointment, to her annoyingly subconscious delight. But still surprise. "Baka, Oyaji." She muttered and then continued towards the kitchen and the aromas that were fanatically attacking her sense of smell.

"Okaa-san!" She moaned in glee as she entered the kitchen, and the attacking aromas blasted her with a blitzkrieg.

"Ohayo, Ranma! I made… oh my…" The woman uttered as she dropped the knife she'd been holding.

"Oh, mom, not you too…" Ranma sighed. "Get me some string and it's goin' right back up!"

Nodoka's eyes suddenly firmed. "No! Gods, why have I been allowing you to keep that tied up!?" She asked, more to herself then anyone else.

Ranma's eyes widened. "Eheh… Cuz' I'm a guy?"

Nodoka's eyes seemed to almost drop at this. "Oh… right…"

Ranma sniffed deciding that now would be an incredibly good time to change the subject. "What'cha makin'? It smells great!" She exclaimed giddily, and was happy to receive the desired effect.

Nodoka brightened at her son's compliment. Not proper etiquette, but a man couldn't expect to have a woman's voice could he? Truthfully, Nodoka had been at a loss as to what she wanted from her son. It was now likely that he would never return to his rightful gender but he was still her son.

And she wanted to see him happy more than anything. She knew that. Those few months of joy she'd seen on her daughter's face, when she and Akane had finally gotten over their stubbornness, had been… magnificent.

But now, Ranma was simply there. No fiancée's to tie her down any more. Nothing for her to look forward to. Nothing for Nodoka to plan for her or attempt to help her with.

She wasn't a woman, and Nodoka refused to make her act as one. Ranma was her son and if he wished to remain that way then he would do so! And if he slowly became feminine… well… that was his choice too.

But for now…

"Nothing spectacular, child. I'm surprised you are awake so early, considering how late I heard you come in your window last night. What were you up to anyways?" She asked, only curious. She trusted her son. He was honorable.

"I… well… nothin' much. Got in a fight yesterday with one of those weird youma…" Ranma saved quickly. The first thing she'd thought of was therapy. But it wouldn't do for her parents to know she was seeing a shrink.

Genma had some… warped… views on psychiatrists and psychologists. Ranma had no clue what Nodoka's views on them were but she did know that her mother tended to agree with Genma in many things that she didn't think the woman _actually_ believed.

Fortunately the fight had been the first thing out of her mouth.

Nodoka only 'hnn'ed as a response. Ranma getting in a fight was like the sun rising in the east. There would never been an end to battle for her manly son!

Even as the warped thoughts fluttered through the elder woman's head, she fished through the drawers and found a string, knowing if she didn't give it to Ranma that the girl would just waste time looking for it until she found it.

"Here you go, Ranma. But… truly… your hair does look… amazing dear." She said almost breathlessly, upon turning towards her daughter again.

Nodoka knew beauty when she saw it, and Ranma had it in spades that her own form even at her daughters age, had not come near.

Ranma merely winced. "Uhm… th-thanks, mom."

Nodoka sighed, in confusion. Did she want a daughter or a son?

At a loss, she went back to her cooking, handing Ranma a plate of the delicious food.

It has been thought by some that Nodoka Saotome and Kasumi Tendo were on an almost equal level in their cooking abilities and the skill required to make a meal 'fit for a king.'

This was a common misconception. The truth was that Kasumi's cooking stood nowhere in _sight_ of Nodoka Saotome's. Having lived a solitary life for the past decade or so, she had busied herself with preparing for when her boys would finally return home to her. For grandchildren and becoming the greatest grandmother to have ever existed, not in small part due to her regret for failing her son so miserably by letting him leave her.

So it was that Ranma inhaled the food, without even a father to attack it, at a faster pace than the girl had ever done at the Tendo's and was asking for seconds… nigh on seconds later.

Nodoka merely sighed with a pained grin. "Child… you will be the death of this old woman."

Ranma grinned back. "Oh, come on mom. You ain't old… now pops on the other hand…" Ranma said, motioning to the man entering the kitchen with a newspaper plastered in front of his face.

Nodoka had to suppress a giggle.

Man or woman, her child was an enigma. It took much to put a sophisticated woman like herself into the shoes of a giggling girl but her child did it _masterfully._

"I s-suppose you have a point dear." She said, still fighting down the urge to laugh. "Here. This is your last one, and you'd best be going. School will begin soon. And you know your father…" She murmured, finally returning to her stoic matriarch-esque manner.

Ranma nodded and took the plate, grinning at the significantly larger portion, this time actually bothering to take it into the dining room and eat it, if not at a different pace.

Genma himself took a plate, nonchalantly kissing his wife as he made his way to the dining room as well, ready for his daily routine of attacking his daugh…

…

"She's my _boy_ dammit!" Thought the quazi-panda-brained man.

The day went as usual and not so long after taking his plate, a thoroughly bruised and beaten old man in a white gi lay in the backyard watching the not-so-thoroughly bruised but not altogether perfectly healthy form of his daughter gliding down the street towards Furinkan.

"Dear… perhaps you _are_ getting a bit old. She defeated you even faster then yesterday."

A sign appeared in the balding man's hand reading. "I am NOT!"

Nodoka giggled to herself for the second time that morning. While her son had mastered it, there _was_ a reason she loved Genma Saotome. "You're not in your Panda form, dear. Senility rears its ugly head…"

Genma had the decency to growl.

* * *

Ranma, cheerful ever since breakfast, had been happily carefree as she sparred with her father that morning. Forgetting the loss of Akane as a lover and fiancée… forgetting Sailor Moon… forgetting her almost-loss the day before. Now everything was coming back as she made her way towards the bane of her existence.

The voice which spoke to her upon her arrival needed no introduction but the owner of said voice tended to make one anyway. "Ah, fairest tree-borne kettle girl. That you wouldst appear before me this day… twas fate that you and I should meet at the dawn of the second full moon since thine brother has past."

"Hi, sempai…" She sighed. "Thanks for reminding me. I _really_ appreciate it. Glad to see you could make it to school too!" She snapped sarcastically.

Kuno blinked. "Something ails you, my dearest?"

Ranma threw Kuno a half lidded stare. "Doesn't it always?" She asked.

Kuno nodded. "Verily. For thine comfort I suggest thy planteth thy fist into its rightful place at my lips so that thy mood might be lifted. T'would such an action help, my goddess?"

Ranma sighed again. "Yeah… yeah, it always does. Thanks Kuno."

"Nay. Tis' I who should thank you."

With that, Ranma's fist slammed into Kuno's face, sending him rocketing backward into the wall, and through it, causing Ranma to blink. "Oops… put a bit much in that one. Oh well…"

She entered the school, her head bowed so as to avoid attention, which was ludicrous considering the event which had just occurred outside the school. Fortunately she did not see either of the two whom she was trying to avoid so she decided perhaps her meager attempt at hiding had paid off.

Of course it didn't help knowing that both of said people she was trying to avoid were in her class and sat right next to her.

She sighed as she entered her homeroom and sat down, Hiroshi on her left, Akane on her right.

"Hi, Ranma!" Hiroshi exclaimed.

"Morning, cutie!" Akane said with a sign, pulling her eye lid down and sticking out her tongue.

"Ha ha, very funny, unfeminine gorilla." Ranma replied, abysmally. Ranma's current relationship with Akane was a strange one.

"Least I wear girl's clothes." Came her replying sign with the flip. "No room to talk about feminism anymore Ranma."

Ranma growled.

A very strange one.

They didn't hate each other, yet they probably called each other more names now than ever before.

Akane gave a grin and turned her eyes to the front as the teacher walked in, thus beginning yet another boring class day. She could get by like this. She told herself she could. She _knew_she could. As long as Ranma was there… she could get over her.

She just needed time.

* * *

"So, how's it going Doctor Tofu?" Aiko Mizuruna asked delightedly as her favorite… or perhaps second favorite client entered the room.

He gave his customary beam and said, "Quite well indeed! I'm not completely over it yet but… well… I'm getting close. I can see her without blowing up but… well…"

Aiko grinned. "One bit of skin and control goes out the window, eh?"

Tofu blanched. "H-how did you know?"

Aiko's grin widened. "I'm a doctor. It's my job to know these things. Honestly, I can't really offer you much more than I've given you already, though. Keep at it, remember to breath, don't, and I repeat _don't_, freeze up, and you should get over it the more you and she date."

Ono acted as if he had something to say but in the end he just smiled. "Miss Mizuruna, you don't have any idea how much you've done for me." He said kindly.

"Don't mention it! Honestly, this session was more of a courtesy session then anything, and I'm not going to charge you for it. I'd done all I can for you Doctor. Just follow what I've told you and you should be able to keep your condition under control.

Tofu grinned. "Well that's a pleasant surprise. I'm curious, where did you go to school, Miss Mizuruna?" The eccentric doctor asked politely.

Aiko wiped her forehead as the telltale feeling of a sweat gland leaking appeared there.

"Overseas. I doubt you'd know it." She thought up quickly.

"Humor me if you would? I think I might want to go there myself someday!" Tofu used a wide smile with his words but even Moon could recognize a subtle probe for information.

"Sorry, Doctor Tofu… that's… confidential." She said, coming up with something quite off the top of her head.

The man's smile faltered and he put up his hands. "Oh I'm sorry! I didn't mean to intrude on your privacy or anything… I just wanted to know…"

Aiko turned to face her desk. Her day had been going so well. She'd liked this poor doctor so much but… well… he was cured of his problem. It was time to let bygones be bygones. Especially now that he was prying.

"I think it's best if you leave Doctor. I'll be happy to see you again if any more problems arise, but as of yesterday you were cleared from my patients list. It's been a pleasure." Her change of tone from her normal friendly voice to the formal indifferent was not lost on Doctor Tofu. She'd done this once or twice before and it always… made him wary.

It was that exact attitude that had made him so curious about his unusual doctor in the first place. However, that was all irrelevant. He recognized a dismissal when he heard one.

"Yes. Yes it has been. Thank you very much, my dear. I must ask before I leave… did Ranma ever come to see you?"

Aiko smiled. Her favorite client after only two sessions had been recommended to come to her by Doctor Tofu. The wild persona who was Ranma had often become a topic of great interest and intrigue between her and her fellow doctor's sessions. The doctor's stories, not to mention most of his meetings with the girl of his dreams, Tendo Kasumi, tended to include the no-longer-gender-construed individual on more than one occasion.

She was glad she'd finally gotten to meet the girl. Even more happy to get to help her with her problems, strange as they were even in comparison to Doctor Tofu's own unusual case.

"Oh yes, yes he did. I sent you the bill for her sessions. She's had two already. You did say you would be paying for her first three, correct?" She asked, and then continued on ignoring the answer he might have put forth. "She is a very troubled individual… I feel… sorry for Ranma, but pity never helped anyone."

"Too true." The chiropractor replied. "Well, I would ask that you inform me of his… well… of Ranma's progress. I've always tried to help her. Him."

Aiko beamed. "Of course, I will! Nothing confidential of course, you understand all that… Well… best be off. I have a busy day ahead!"

Doctor Tofu nodded.

They said a few more rounds of goodbyes until the middle aged doctor finally left. She waited for a few minutes, packing her purse, coat, and several other items she felt she might need and walked into the long hallway.

"I've no more patients today, so I'll be leaving now Ascheri!" She exclaimed giddily to her boss-slash-co-worker.

The woman behind the counter gave a smile and nod but then turned back to her work without a word.

Aiko left the building and in fifteen minutes or so she was at home, inside her tent, and out of the aged body of Aiko Mizuruna, dressed in the attire of the legendary Sailor Moon.

"Ah… good to be back…" She sighed to herself, knowing that she could only keep her normal form for so long. It was only an hour or so till noon. She had a whole day left with little to do, but she did have something in mind.

But there was some time until she could go through with her plans. It seemed forever she lay on that futon caressed by the plastic floor of her tent beneath it.

"Rei… God I miss you Rei. I was never bored with you around…" She whispered to herself.

She rolled to her side, looking out the zipped flap of her tent staring at nothing. Her gaze fell downward towards the floor where the Mercury Computer lay at her eye level, on and blipping, forever scanning the city for disturbance.

"Ami… shy Ami…" She moaned.

In an effort to block out the memories, hide the pain that came to her whenever in solitude, often of late, she buried herself under her three protective blankets and wept. For friends lost. For loves lost. For family lost.

It took hours for her to recover but she did, as she always did. She wasn't Usagi anymore. She may still cry… but she _had_ to be stronger.

Firming herself, readying herself to be of use once more, she lifted the disguise pen for what felt like the millionth time. "Moon Power Disguise! Turn me into a teacher!"

The transformation swept over her as it always did, barely even affecting her. She didn't really even notice the transformation any longer. Just a small buzz, and there she was. Whatever she wanted to be.

'Ranma. Let's figure out how you tick.' She thought to herself.

* * *

For the first time in quite possibly her entire life, Ranma was dreading lunch. And that was unusual. Surreal. Impossible even. Some would go far enough to say it was a sign alluding to the end of days, but still, it was the truth.

Of course, no matter how much death her eyes sent flying towards the clock, and even at the threat of being blown to smithereens, time did not stop and therefore the bells tolled the coming of Lunch. The end of boredom. The beginning of fluttery stomachs and difficult decisions.

"Hey, Ranma!" Gasanda exclaimed rushing from her desk to Ranma's as the redhead sluggishly picked up her books and made to exit the room. "I heard that Hiroshi asked—!"

"Don't wanna talk about it!" Ranma interrupted harshly. Far more harshly than she intended as the girl flinched back. Ranma winced too and apologized with her eyes.

Ranma had known news of Hiroshi's proposal had leaked out to the public the day before but she didn't expect _Gasanda_ to know! She was the _least_ gossip oriented of her friends. And if _she_ knew then…

They fell in step alongside each other and left the room "Er… I'm sorry. But I'm really not wanting to talk about—!"

"Hey Ranma! I heard about you and—!"

"I DON'T wanna talk about it!" She shouted to the speedily approaching form of Miyataki, another friend she'd made since being locked.

Unlike Gasanda, Miyataki would have none of Ranma's denial. "Oh come on! Stop whining and tell me what's going on! Come on Ranma! He's your best friend! You can't just turn him do—!"

"_I REALLY DON'T want to talk about it!"_ She seethed. "And who said I turned him down!?"

Miyataki grinned. "Oh yeah, he's all heartbroken about it. Said you turned him down and everything. So you should tell us what this is all about!" She exclaimed giddily.

"_What!?"_The redhead screamed.

Then, with newly found intelligence which had been strangely lacking when she had been cursed to become both male and female, Ranma's eyes narrowed as she recognized the sarcasm in her friend's voice.

"He never said any of that, did he?" She asked heatedly.

Miyataki just beamed, shaking her head in the negative. "Nope! But you still have to talk!"

"Miya…ta—" Ranma trailed off, staring over Miya's shoulder.

"Hey Ranma… can I talk to you alone a sec?" Hiroshi asked, shocking Miyataki, to Ranma's immense inward delight, even though she was to tight-lipped to say it.

Her face flushed. "Uh… yeasure." She said, so fast the words seemed slurred. She stepped past Miyataki and Gasanda, face burning, and walked away from them to a more private corner of the hallway as the girls behind her began whispering together and several other girl's joined them, Akane included.

'Akane…' Ranma thought. Her eyes lingered on the girl as she glanced back for a longing moment but she was quickly returned to the present.

"Ranma…" Hiroshi said straightly.

"Yeah?" She asked, facing away from both him and the whispering girls, finding a certain wall tile particularly interesting.

"So… did you think about it?" He asked.

Ranma nodded, still staring away from him.

"Aand…?" he drawled.

Ranma turned to him and beamed. "I need more time!"

Hiroshi face faulted, and then glared up at his martial arts obsessed friend. "Jeez…! Ranma if this is just some game to you then forget it!" He exclaimed. "I'm your friend… It's not like I'm trying to take advantage of you or something… Here you go, joking around…"

He stood and began to walk off mumbling to himself, unaware that Ranma could hear the words. "Shoulda' never even tried… makin' myself look like an idi—"

"Hiroshi…" Ranma murmured.

He stopped and turned, to find Ranma staring at him with her creepily wide eyes. "Look… It's not a joke. I just… it's… weird, okay? This was really fast… _really fast._ Me and Akane were just… well… we… Er… I…" She stuttered, trying to come up with something to say.

"What are you tryin' to say, Ranma?" He asked. He knew his friend, and he definitely knew when Ranma was attempting, and failing miserably, to beat around the bush. Now was a perfect example.

Ranma sighed. With one final glance at Akane, who was busy whispering and glancing at her and Hiroshi periodically, she thought. 'Do or die, right? I've been so lonely ever since…'

Her eyes clenched tight. "I'm saying yes! Friday. Six. Don't be late!" She said sharply, and then dashed away towards the cafeteria leaving a dumbfounded best friend.

And then a madly grinning best friend, desperately trying to keep his hormones down.

Despite public opinion, he really was simply trying to help Ranma. Granted, she was beautiful beyond the figure of any other girl he'd _ever_ seen, but he truly wanted to help his best friend. She was in a tangle. She obviously was interested in girls, but ever since Akane and she had split off a week or so ago the girl had seemed desperately lonely, so much that he worried about her.

She'd been so damn _lonely_, that he had no choice but to try to find _some_ way to cheer his once male friend up. In the end, he completely blind-sided the redhead.

His intentions were, believe it or not, unromantic.

At least, that's what he tried to tell himself.

He'd been trying to avoid noticing the… looks… Ranma would give boys randomly. It was mostly Ryoga she gave them to end but he had found himself on the receiving end of one once or twice during the past two months since her return.

They were confused looks. Strained and incomprehensible looks, for Ranma anyway. For any other girl they would be _damn_ close to appraisals. He _knew_ he'd seen her give Akane those looks back when he was a boy. And even more upon returning. But this was _Ranma._ Couldn't be…

Despite his musings, Hiroshi couldn't ignore that those looks had heavily increased since Ranma and Akane's break up. Not to mention that she'd now said… YES…

The gaggling girls following the redhead entertained him as he watched them follow the afterimage of his best friend and… well… he wasn't really sure.

"Jeez…" He thought. "What a weird day…"

They never noticed the unusual teacher hanging out in the hallway a few doors down.

'Good job Ranma!' Moon thought. 'Hiroshi's pretty cute! So that's what you were so anxious about. Guess you had no choice. Heh…'

Even as she smiled, happy for her patient, a tear slid down her cheek. 'Mamo-chan… Mamo-chan…"

* * *

"I still can't believe it." Naru exclaimed heatedly.

"Is it so hard to think that Usagi is Sailor Moon, Naru? I mean come on! You've been saved by her what, four times now? And Usagi had _never_ seen her? Don't you think that's a bit… strange?" Umino asked, clearly getting sick of this conversation.

"But it's just so hard to believe. All that time, while she was failing classes. It's not any wonder she was so terrible at it. Makes me wonder how that Mizuno girl was still able to do so well in school… hmm…" Naru pondered.

"More importantly, where do you think we should search today?" Umino asked, curiously. He was all out of ideas himself, so he hoped she had come up with something.

"I was thinking that she might have gone into the woods outside town. You know, out beyond the park? We know she's shown up twice almost as soon as the two youma showed up. That one yesterday was all over the papers and the one a week or three ago was pretty close by there too. That means she can't have gone too far." Naru recited sagely.

"N-Naru. No offence but I would swear you said those exact same words yesterday…"

"So what! It still holds true!" Naru exclaimed.

"And the day before that. And the day before that. And the…"

"Oh shut up, Umino." She hmphed, shuffling past her short, yet steadily maturing boyfriend.

Umino sighed. He'd screwed up again. He knew that much. Oh well. He'd find a way to make it up to her. He skipped a step or two to catch up with the girl he loved. "Hey, Naru… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad."

"Great job." She replied sarcastically.

"Oh come on, Naru. I didn't mean… Hey… what's that marking on your fore—"

"Meow…" came a small sound from behind them.

They both turned and there on the ground was Usagi's cat. "Luna…" Naru exclaimed, and knelt down next to the cat.

"Meow… meow…" The cat mewled.

Naru smiled. She embraced the little black cat as it ran into her arms. "Oh… poor Luna… I guess Usagi didn't take you with her did she?"

The cat… seemed to gulp as if it were afraid. "Meow…"

Naru sweat-dropped. She'd always been partially superstitious, not to mention the fact that Usagi's cat had _always_ scared her. It always seemed… just a bit _too_ smart.

"Hey Naru… there's something on your forehead…" Umino insisted.

"Hmm?" She asked, turning her attention back to the thick glasses covering the eyes of her boyfriend. "What is it?" She asked mutely.

Luna shivered but decided then and there that she only had one course of action. She would never be able to find Usagi on her own. And the Senshi of Silence was here. It had been little Naru all along.

'Why now?' thought her astute feline mind. Either way, it was irrelevant. Now was the time. She had an ally again. An ally strong enough to destroy a planet, true, but an ally. And she could help find Usagi.

"Hello, Naru. Umino." She said.

Their eyes snapped towards her, shocked. Umino's jaw hung open.

"L-Luna?" Naru asked worriedly. Then she shook her head. "Umino… did you just hear…?" She turned her eyes away from the cat in her lap up to her boyfriend who was just staring at the cat, jaw still gaping.

"That's my name. " Luna said, causing both of them to back up, and Luna to fly off Naru's comforting lap.

"D-demon! It's a little youma or something possessing Usagi's cat!" Naru screamed.

Luna was shuffled laboriously on the ground. Severely annoyed, she got up and licked herself off, shaking of the dust collected from her short fly, and then turned her eyes to the shivering Naru and Umino, backed against a tree.

She_almost_ burst out laughing.

"Jeez! I'm a cat! Who do you think made Usagi Sailor Moon in the first place, hmm?" She asked in that oh-so-smart tone Luna often used.

Umino and Naru, holding each other in fear, split apart as they blinked at the cat. "So you're… not a youma…?" Naru asked.

"Of course not! Sheesh, If I were a Youma how in the world would Usagi have survived sleeping with me in her room every night?" She asked.

They blinked again.

"She has a point." Naru said.

The cat strode up to them. "As you know, Usagi is gone. She saw fit to leave me behind. It's my job to advice her… but… if I can't find her then… Well… I need help. And to think, all along my help was waiting right in front of me." She said with a smile.

"Huh?" Naru asked, trying to understand.

Luna stared straight at the symbol that looked like a malformed English h flaring deeply on Naru's forehead.

"Naru! It's that thing on your forehead!" Umino exclaimed.

"My…" Naru toned. She reached up to stroke her brow and found nothing out of the ordinary.

Luna jumped, flipping over backwards she produced a small pen.

"You are the Sailor Senshi of Saturn. All along, you could have been helping us… they might not have even had to fight if I'd known… Here. Take this and say 'Saturn Power Make-up!' You will understand then. Umino. Feel privileged that I trust you, otherwise I would never have come to her with you around."

Umino gulped and nodded as Naru took the pen.

The words echoed across the road they stood on and Naru found herself wrapped in a swirl of dazzling lights and color… and then… no… color.

'I…' She tried to say, but no words came forth. Trees were dulled to a black and white in her eyes. The ground was numb. The sun held only white. The road only gray. Color had left her eyes…

"What's going on!" She exclaimed. Then she turned to Luna. "Is this! Is this normal?"

Luna cocked her head and nodded.

"You are the Senshi of Silence. Sailor Saturn. Sound can touch you but you are void. I think that's right at least. My memories are a little fuzzy. Don't worry about talking, you lose the ability in this form." Luna said as if reciting words from an encyclopedia.

"I… I…"

"Naru-chan?"

"How do I change back!?" Naru exclaimed, emitting no sound. Only moving lips.

Luna told her, anticipating what she was asking and Naru followed instantly.

Umino stared in awe at his girlfriend, dressed in the daring purple and white uniform of the Senshi, as he watched it disappear and return to normal.

Naru simply stared at the pen in awe. And partial fear. "It… It made me color blind!"

Luna sighed as she prepared for the induction of the newest… and only current Senshi.

"Come, you two. I'll introduce you to Artemis!" She exclaimed. "Come on!"

* * *

Akane stared at her ex-fiancé, stoic anger seething throughout her expression. Curiously, the girl opposite her held a resigned and rueful demeanor.

"Ranma." She her sign read, testily trying to keep her face civil.

"Akane." Ranma replied. She had no problems keeping calm. She'd found cool anger worked much better then open anger.

"I… I can't believe you're doing this!" She indented the words into the concrete pavement in anger.

"What the hell do you expect me to do, Akane?" The redhead replied bitterly.

Akane retracted as if hit. "I… I expected… I don't know! It's just that…" The sign trailed off, unfinished.

Ranma sighed. "Just what, tomboy?" The anger laced within Ranma's resigned tone made the pet name seem as if it had been run through the dirt. It had been.

Akane glared. If Ranma was going to be angry then she would too! "I thought you'd be a little bit more faithful you stupid jerk!" She wrote.

"Faithful to what Akane? We're over. You said that. Wrote that." Ranma corrected, calmly yet still bitterly angry.

Akane stopped at that, staring into her once-love's eyes at a loss for what to say.

Ranma met her ex-fiancée's eyes. "Akane… I love you. I don't think I'll ever be able to stop, now that we admitted it. If you even gave me a hint that it could still work I'd…" The girl trailed off…

"I know…" Akane mouthed. "But…"

Silence reigned for a time. Both looking away from each other.

It was Akane who spoke first trying to break the silence. God, she'd almost transform right there and begin a serenade if it would work but… It was her that no longer loved the redhead. It wasn't Ranma's fault. But what could she do? Her sign made it's way to Ranma's view slowly, her eyes questioning. "What happened Ranma? We were doing so good those first few weeks… But then… everything just fell apart."

"You wanted a man. I can't measure up to that anymore. That's all there is." Ranma said as she stared at the early sunset.

"But why…? Why are you… so soon?" She asked. "And with a _boy!_I…"

The red-head hesitated. There lay the rub. Hiroshi was a _boy_. That honestly didn't matter to her. Even if Hiroshi had been a girl. It wouldn't actually _go_anywhere regardless of Hiroshi's gender… Not this fast. That was impossible… not when she still hurt so much looking at... but…

"I'm… lonely, Akane. I was used to having people after me all the time! Now there's… now there's no one, and I…"

"Ranma…?" Her sign read ruefully.

"I'm sorry, Akane."

Again it was silent. And Akane's new-found power could do nothing to change it as Ranma slowly walked away, tears rolling down both their cheeks.

"…. I love you… Baka…"

And she turned and walked the other way.

* * *

Moon stared down from the rooftop at the couple. The girl before her patient was obviously Akane, and their conversation, Akane's part of it at least, was more than legible enough to be seen from her vantage point atop the schools lowermost roof. The girl had good calligraphy.

"Poor Ranma-chan… I hope I can help you…" She murmured to herself, watching the girl walk away slowly, leaving the blue haired girl standing their, hair waving in the wind.

"I hope I can help you…"

* * *

She felt consciousness returning to her along with comfort and serenity to rival the queen's own. Warmth covered her and the heavy blanket on her bare shoulders only added to her immense comfort.

The boy she lay in the arms of, her human pillow, did not complain; he only held her closer.

She never wanted to leave.

Never.

"Setsuna…" The word faded into her mind but she made as if to shut it out. She nuzzled her face into the shoulder, cuddling it childishly.

"Setsuna… you need to get up…" The voice above her said gently.

"Don't wanna…" She moaned. "Comfy…"

The voice gently prodded her for a while more. At least, it did until it was silenced by a swift punch in the gut.

"I'm sleepy…" Setsuna said defiantly, staring up into the eyes of her breathless lover, wide awake, directly opposing her words.

Lio gave a wry grin mixed with the pain of having the wind knocked out of him. "Your Queen's in danger."

Setsuna's eyes practically popped out of their sockets. The Queen! In danger? She dashed out of the bed like a mad woman. "Why didn't you say—!"

The man was laughing.

Laughing his damnably cute ass off.

"What's so funny!?" She asked indignantly. Then she thought about it a moment. "What Queen!? What is going on? You never answered anything last night! You just seduced me!"

"Oh really!?" He asked, now eyeballing her naked form appreciatively.

She blushed instantly and snatched the blanket, revealing him, covering herself. He held no such nervousness or reservations; just a smirk. "I'm quite certain it was you who said, 'Never let me go.' Correct?"

She flushed even redder, then pouted. "You still took advantage of me and didn't tell me anything! Like who you are and why the heck I wasn't… scared…"

He quirked his head, puzzled. "Scared? I know I looked decently frightening when I was playing that joke on you but I'm not all that terrifying." He said nonplussed.

She began twiddling her fingers… "Well… uhm… you see… For the past, uhm… long time… I've been… uhm… scared of… well…"

He quirked an eye brow. "Cockroach." He said pointing.

"EEEEEK!" She screamed, jumping up and running around in fright. "Where!? Get'it'off'me!"

Thus would have begun another round or relentless laughter had the girl not completely forgotten her state of dress in light of her fright and let the blanket fall to the floor, causing herself to be exposed to Lio's appraising eye once more.

Setsuna, still rampantly staring at the floor, covered in dark mists and almost endless darkness save for small enclosed area they both resided in, frantically searching for the insectiscious bane of human existence.

Then she saw him staring at her. It clicked.

Her hand blasted across the boy's smug face striking him near off the bed. "You… you… you… Dirty little…!"

But the boy only smirked. In an instant he disappeared and Setsuna felt herself held once more in hands warmer than any blanket that had ever caressed her.

"As if I would allow cockroaches near the Gates of Rebirth… You would never allow that, Soul of My Heart." He whispered lovingly into her ear, the title taking her breath away all over again.

She gasped, and had to fight down an effort to simply turn and begin kissing him again, as they had done for time uncountable until she fell asleep the previous day. Well… that and other things. _Many_ other things that her mother would most likely kill her for. But fight she did, this time.

Strange as that was considering the all-bearing fear that had always enveloped her when a member of the opposite sex even came _near_her. It seemed _completely_absent with this man.

Maybe that was why it had been so easy for him to seduce her? The nagging desire she felt when looking at him coupled with the fact that she_knew_ him but didn't know _how_, along with the final icing on the cake being that she wasn't _scared_of his touch were driving her insane.

"Please… tell me what is happening?" She exhaled breathily, her heart racing her mind in a duel, the prize resulting in her actions. Her mind was winning. Barely.

He inhaled deeply taking in the scent of her ruffled hair as if it were a deep spring day. With that he twisted her in his arms, taking care to touch her wherever he could draw the strongest stimulations from as much as possible as he turned her to face him, and met her eyes.

Her eyes, pleading for answers and her body wanting for more of his touch she stared at him.

And he smiled.

"It's so rare, that it is I to show you who you are. So many times have you found me… shown me who I am. Is it so wrong for me to revel in keeping you in the dark, just this once?" His grin widened if that was possible, and she let out a moan as his fingers trailed up her rear end and down her chest simultaneously.

Her eyes held his firmly if strained, though no less confused, still pleading for the answers she sought.

'God… it feels so… _good!_' Her mind whimpered as his hands trailed across her body. It was inhuman. Definitely inhuman. Fingertips touching _shoulders_ did _not_ evoke sexual stimulation! It was utterly impossible! Yet his did.

And considering where his hands were _now_, she felt utter bliss as she desperately fought down her base wants.

"Please…" She begged, not quite certain which it was she was begging for anymore. The words or the touch.

His left hand ran to the small of her back, his right darting to the back of her head, and he hugged her fiercely to himself, ending his manipulations, yet beginning all new ones as he began to tug on her heartstrings.

"I've waited so long to see you… I hardly knew what to do. S-so… I just did it your way." He chuckled and parted from her to look down into her eyes again. "Scare the shit outta you!"

Finally free of the unbelievably good sensations for a moment, Setsuna was allowed those few seconds to regain her breath, not to mention her thinking. Unfortunately, said thinking was still even more marred by the weeping joy she could feel in his voice warming her heart to him still more. "I… I don't understand. I have a past life…? I… What is wrong? I'm sorry… I…"

He placed his hands on her shoulders, pulling himself apart from her to stare down into her eyes once more, and smiled.

"Let me show you, Time. Let me show you."

For a mere moment she stared, captivated by his eyes. Then her vision was enveloped in light.

* * *

"Hey Doc." Ranma exclaimed as she entered her shrink's office once more, the following day.

Aiko's eyes widened as Ranma opened her door fifteen minutes before she was supposed to be here. A first for the girl, even thought this was only her third visit. The other two times she had been late.

"You're quite early! Did that crush you have on me bring you back?" She asked in her upbeat tone.

A pang of… suspicion leapt up within Ranma as she entered the room. The doctor's voice was cheerful. Her face cheerful. Even her body language was cheerful as she usually was. But just as she was opening the door… she'd thought she'd seen a frown of sadness to rival her own face when she was alone.

She disregarded it for the moment but logged it away for safekeeping. Perhaps her enthusiastic doctor had a little more to her then met the eye.

Then the doctor's words registered. "Well I… uh…"

"Oh I'm just kidding! Well. I've got nothing better to do. Would you like to start now? Hey… aren't one of the secretaries supposed to call out your name when it's appointment time?" Aiko asked, confidently.

"Well… yeah… but they know me and said you didn't have anyone in so I could go in early if I wanted to say hi before we start… and stuff..." Ranma supplied.

Aiko blinked. Then shrugged. "Okay. Whatever. So… where were we when you left off?" She asked kindly.

Ranma sighed. "Alright, let's see… school. Yeah. That's where we were. My first day back…"

Ranma took a moment to collect her thoughts as she plopped down on the cushioned patient seat and Aiko took her own chair nearby.

"Well… the school… they had mixed opinions about me. At first I wanted to go and act like nothing had changed. Sorta. I still used the guys room and…"

* * *

It took some time for Akane to stop bashing Ranma over the head with the large sign reading "That's not what you said last night!" but eventually she did stop, Ranma appearing none the worse for wear.

The school became visible in the distance as they walked and they became equally nervous.

"Uhm… are you sure you wanna do this, Akane? I mean… well… it'll start so many rumors and—"

Akane nodded matter-of-factly. "I definitely do. I love you, Ranma. And as long as I know that…(flip) I should be able to handle this."

Akane forcibly pushed down the seeds of doubt welling within her gut. All the time she and Ranma had spent saying they couldn't care less about one another, and suddenly Ranma's permanently cursed, and _now_ they were actually taking the fiancée thing seriously.

If there was _anything_ that would start rumors it was that.

Ugh… what would people think?

…

It shouldn't have mattered at all to her. But it did.

She grabbed her fiancée's hand and strode forward. "We'll do this together, Ranma. I told all my friends the story so they'll be behind you at least. And you can surely count on Hiroshi and Daisuke, right?"

She ended the sign staring at Ranma with a questioning look.

"Well… yeah…" Ranma stammered. She twitched and reached for the annoying fabric surrounding her breasts beneath her shirt. She hated bras. Truly and deeply.

Faking confidence she didn't' feel, Akane nodded with a wide grin that stated with her tone alone 'We'll be fine!'

It lifted Ranma's spirits though.

"Mmhmm." She nodded in an uncannily shy manner.

It was with some bit of awe that Akane saw a portion of the small, embarrassed red-headed girl she had first met in the arms of a panda emerge that moment. Ranma was afraid. It was a rare occurrence. A_very_ rare occurrence. But it did happen.

Akane strode forward into view of the gates, hand in hand with her fiancé, and instantly whispers began.

Well… not so much whispers.

"_Everyone! Ranma's back!" _Was the first shout that greeted them and instantly that shout was capitalized by loud murmuring and a roar of conversation and stares and grins.

It dropped Ranma's resolve back down instantly.

Akane was nigh on shocked to find Ranma partially _hiding_ behind her. She raised an eyebrow at the oddity. It… what? It didn't make her angry but…

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending upon the interpretation, her mental examination of her own emotions was cut short but a rather loud outcry.

"Ranma! Ranma buddy! You're back!" Daisuke exclaimed as he came barreling down out of the front entrance Hiroshi in tow.

Ranma smiled. She did have friends. A few.

"Yeah." She said, mutely. She nodded and looked over at Akane. The blue haired girl looked back and gave a grin, clutching the red-head's hand tighter.

Daisuke raised an eyebrow, but disregarded his notice for something more important. "Ranma… so… did you do it?"

Ranma's smiled faded. "Yeah… This is me, Dai. It's permanent, now."

Daisuke winced. He knew how much Ranma hated his girl form. And now there his friend was, stuck in it for the rest of his life… her life.

"Damn… I'm sorry, buddy." He exhaled as his shoulders sagged.

He knew when Ranma left that there was little to no chance of him ever seeing the boy male again. Ranma had told him of the dire situation he'd been left in before he went to China two weeks ago for a way to permanently lock his curse.

He and Hiroshi had always teased Ranma about his girl form. Stupid jokes, like making catcalls whenever the martial artist was splashed randomly while they were around or calling her 'the girl of their dreams' as utter jests, that they usually ended up paying for with mild bodily harm… stupid things.

But to see him locked forever, the alternative being death? That was too much. Daisuke felt extreme guilt for the jokes he'd played on Ranma back then. Even so, he couldn't keep the pervert in him from screaming in joy. Ranma was a girl! Permanently! Men of the world, rejoice!

He chuckled inwardly as he held Ranma's eyes for a moment.

Then she let loose a grin. "Don't worry about it. I'll get over it. Not like I'm gonna just give up and die! Sides… Something good came outta' all this." She said, as she suggestively turned her gaze to Akane, who had the decency to blush in an instant.

Daisuke's eyes widened. "You… and her… and…"

Akane firmed the grip on Ranma's hand even more and shook her head in the affirmative vigorously, giving a wide smirk.

Ranma nodded yes as well, shyly. Quite strange to Hiroshi and Daisuke as the idea of Ranma doing _anything_ shyly was, they hardly noticed in light of how incredibly unbelievable it was that Ranma and Akane were actually a couple!

Heads would roll at this. Oh heads would roll at this.

With that, the bell rang causing everyone to realize that they were indeed late. Due to the numerous amount of late persons who had stayed out of class to say hello to Ranma as she finally returned home, no one received bucket duty. Ranma was quite grateful.

* * *

"Saotome-san… welcome back. I trust your visit to China was enjoyable? Obviously, you didn't have much success on curing your curse." Mr. Tsuveno, Furinkan's Mathematics professor said upon seeing the redheaded girl sitting near the back of class.

"No… not really…" She said dimly. Akane was not present in this class with her, having advanced on to higher mathematics courses than intro to trigonometry, nor would she be until her next class.

The teacher tilted his head, questioningly, but found no want to exuberate her story upon his student's face.

He gave a shrug. And began class as normal, after sending the late Kedama Airo into the hall for bucket duty. That fat girl was always late… every single day without fail! Why did she even come? Phaw.

Ranma sat in the class and found herself uncannily wakeful. Paying attention she found that, while not half so clear as glass, the material the teacher was covering was… understandable. Perhaps it was just an easy day…

Her notebook remained blank. Notes were unnecessary to a martial artist! She'd maintained that philosophy since she'd first begun attending school again and it had yet to fail her!

So class passed without incident.

The bell rang, surprising Ranma. She'd actually been… she'd never admit it to anyone of course but she'd actually been enjoying class. A little.

She stood, watching as the class filtered out, aimlessly following behind them, till she was accosted by still more fellow classmates.

Shugi, Tetsuyo, and Akane's friend Sayuri all met her at the doorway, having waited while the rest of the class filtered out.

"Hi Ranma! I'm… glad to see you home!" The girl intoned and the two boys, one of which was her boyfriend but Ranma could not recall which one, nodded their agreement.

Ranma grinned. "Thanks Sayuri. I didn't even know you cared!"

The girl beamed. "Of course I do! You are my best friend's fiancé right?"

The question… struck Ranma. For a short moment she stood in nigh on shock. And then, she beamed. "Yep! I am. I actually am."

Of course, that had not at all been the reaction the brown-haired girl expected. Not in the least. Her jaw dropped as did those of the two static boys behind her in as close to pure shock as was mentally possible.

Ranma left the room and the presence of the three with a pleasant laugh and a very uplifted lilt in her step. She was Akane's fiancé. Truly now.

And here she'd been moping around all morning.

Her upbeat tone didn't last too long though. She arrived at the gymnasium without having met Akane, annoyance having crept up her shoulders as she realized a dilemma.

"Screw it." She thought to herself.

She entered the boys locker room, heedless of how things used to be. She was a guy. Everyone knew it. The only problem that would be caused by just using the guy's locker room would be directly related to her. Therefore there would be no malletings, thrown flower pots, or beatings of her cranium involved.

'Thank god for stalls.' She thought, as she realized that was where she would be changing from now on, and showers would have to wait till after school. That was alright though. Only another hour until school ended anyways.

Few eyes raised at her entry, save for the many 'welcome homes' she received. She nodded them off with a thank you or a pat on the back as she'd always done. Strange just how _many_ people there were welcoming her. She hadn't known she was all _that_ popular. It was common enough for Ranma to come into the boy's locker room as a girl.

A few did rise, however, at the notice that she did not immediately go to the sink for warm water.

It was with a dismal sigh that she grabbed for the girl's gym uniform stuffed in her locker for those 'just in case' times. Now it appeared that would be her only outfit.

With that, nigh on _every_ eye had raised. 'Ranma was grabbing the girl's uniform?,' 'YES!,' 'Why?,' 'Was it some scam?,' and 'What was he trying to pull?' were the thoughts running through the minds of the boys.

Ranma ignored them but she felt their eyes. 'Why are they staring at me? Don't they know all about it already? I'd figure Akane would have told the story of why or at least Hiro and Dia woulda' told the whole school now… I thought Nabiki would have sold it weeks ago!"

Just her luck. No one knew she was permanently a girl. And those normally expected to tell everything had not done so.

Great.

She just loved being on the receiving end of fully widened eyes. She entered one of the stalls, but she heard no scuffling of clothing on the outside. No one was leaving.

Really great.

She sighed and still felt the eye of every boy in the room at the time staring at the door waiting for her to exit.

"I guess no one knows yet… do you?" She asked.

"Yo, what's everyone staring at?" Came the voice of Hiroshi from what sounded like the entrance.

"Ranma… She… well…" Someone answered. Ranma didn't know who.

"Hiroshi… how come no one knows? I thought the story would be all over the school. If not by Akane then at least Nabiki or you and Dai."

Hiroshi hesitated a moment. "Well… we… Nabiki came and talked to us. She asked if we knew. We told her what we did and she knocked off about five thousand yen just for that. She asked us not to tell. Said Akane asked her. We… we thought that you wouldn't want everyone to know…"

Ranma didn't know whether to be happy or sad… "Akane did that?" She asked.

"Yeah." Hiroshi nodded. "On the chance that everything worked out she didn't want anyone to know…"

The other boys in the room were murmuring in confused questioning voices.

"Hey, what's going on?" One said, loudly above the rest.

Ranma began shucking her clothes and changing allowing silence to collect in the room once again.

"Ranma—"

"I'm a girl. Permanently." She said. "I went to China to lock myself."

For a few moments more silence permeated the walls of the room.

"_WHAT!!?"_

And with that the room became a torrent pure and utter clamor. Some felt sorry for their friend. Some had the audacity to laugh like no tomorrow. But the majority were grinning like madmen.

A locker room away, Akane suddenly heard a huge shout from the other side of the wall. She shook her head in exasperation. She didn't know _what_ was going on over there but whatever it was, she doubted she wanted to know. 'Perverts…'

'I wonder what Ranma's doing right now.' She thought as she changed.

…

Her eyes widened.

* * *

"You used the guy's restroom?" Aiko asked curiously. "Just like that? I mean… didn't anyone care?"

Ranma thought for a contemplative moment. Then responded, "Yeah… Akane was the worst about it. She didn't want me going into the bathroom with all those _perverted boys_! After a bit, I started to understand what she meant."

Aiko chuckled. "I think I would like this, Akane, if I met her… she reminds me of someone I… used to know."

Ranma grinned completely missing her doctor's forlorn expression. "Yeah… you probably would."

Aiko shook herself out of her trip down memory lane quickly. It did not do to dwell on memories and the past. After a moment of silence she turned once more to her notepad and patient. "Go on." She murmured.

"Heh… well… there's a kinda funny story about how the girls accepted me_as_ a girl. Well… it all started…"

* * *

"See? It's easy. All you do is hit this switch to turn it on." The boy before her said, pressing the switch to allow a red light to blip to life on the tiny piece of equipment the boy had named an Xcon 317K mega VHR.

"… What…? " Ranma asked wryly. "You… can't be serious."

"Come on man! I've _seen_ you go in there lots of times over the past week!" Aiga Nakamuya exclaimed, and several of the surrounding boys gave nods of agreement.

"And all of them _hate_ it when I go in there! But I have to, to avoid getting stared at by jerks like _you_!" She shouted.

"You wound me, man! Haven't we been friends for a while? Come on! I know you still like girls! What's the problem!?" He said as he handed the girl the almost microscopic video camera. "All you gotta do is set it up so that it sits at the back of the room and—!"

It was true. Ranma still did like girls. Girl to be more precise. One girl. Her girlfriend and fiancée, Akane Tendo. And that was the only one. Had this occurred before she and Akane had finally gotten together, she admitted that she might have felt some small ounce of want to do this. Not because she cared about watching the girl's change; no, it would have been to spite Akane for some fight or another that they had had.

They had an extremely small amount of fights these days.

The girl's aura bursting into a red fury surrounding her had the definite effect of shutting the idiot up.

"You honestly think.." she began, "That I'm gonna set up a camera so you can watch girl's change? You… HENTAI!!"

"He-hey Ranma.. come on…! Just a joke!" Aiga said, backing up with a sweat drop trailing down his forehead.

Ranma growled. "Its pervert's like you that made me have to start using their restroom in the _first place!" _She screamed, advancing on the boy's step by step, her hair flinging about wildly in the midst of her booming aura.

"Okay! I'm sorry! I didn't mean—!"

"DIE!"

And with that the boy exploded out of one of the many glass windows surrounding Furinkan high school and slammed down onto the pavement below, his Xcon 317K mega VHR sailing behind him, to impact into his back and bounce off a few paces.

Right to the feet of Yuka.

Ranma sighed abysmally as she left the room, the other boys clear back against the walls away from her.

'Only at Furinkan…' She thought.

* * *

"Uh… hey… is anyone in there?" Ranma asked in the shy voice that had been becoming more and more common lately.

Susuyu Agumitsu, a junior one year below Ranma, looked at her with wide eyes. "Uh… yes… but it's okay. No one mind's you in there anymore Saotome-san!" The girl said with a wide grin.

Ranma blinked. "Huh?"

The girl just smiled. "Oh you'll see! Let's just say you made yourself trustworthy!"

Ranma blinked again as the girl walked away. "That was strange…" She was used to glares upon asking if anyone was in there. Not from that girl in particular but she'd never met her before. On a general level the girls _knew_ who she was.

But it didn't matter either way. She wasn't particularly fond of the whistles she got using the boys room. Well she didn't trust the random word of some junior girl so she'd still wait. She had another five or ten minutes left.

The next girl to walk out was Ukyo. "Ranchan!" She shouted joyously. "C'mon!"

And before she could blink, Ranma was dragged into the girl's restroom.

Ukyo was never one to dwell on the past too much. She'd been forced to do so for ten years and she'd paid severely for her years of malice. Now that she had no chance with Ranma, she didn't want to waste the friendship she had made. There weren't many friends for her on the road, but through and through, Ranma had been there for her. So, instead of moping about how her fiancé would never be able to marry her, she decided to be as friendly and happy-go-lucky as possible.

Ranma had cheered her up during her worst times. Now it was her turn. This whole situation was, after all, a lot worse for Ranma then it was for her.

"Oh! Hi Ranma!" Said another girl that Ranma knew in the 'saw you around somewhere' sort of way.

She looked around and saw girl's changing or looking at her in various states of undress. Curiously, there wasn't a single glare. Regardless of that, her eyes snapped shut. "Uh… I'm… sorry! Hehe, I'll just be on m—"

"Ranma-san… we saw the video clip of what you did to Aiga." Said a girl that Ranma couldn't see.

"Oh… heh! So that's what all this is about!" Ranma exclaimed, her eyes still shut.

There were a few scuffles as the girls finished dressing, and some of them approached Ranma in a semi circle. "Ranma… we wanted to apologize. We didn't know what was going on over there and—"

"Don't worry about it! Nothin' Ranma Saotome couldn't handle!" The redhead interrupted.

"A-Are you… sure? I mean… we were pretty mean to you, and you didn't deserve it. I know Akane said it was okay an' all but none of us really thought…" The same girl responded.

"No, seriously! It's okay. But… if you don't mind me in here… I've been wondering... Uhm… can I open my eyes?" She asked daintily.

Giggles filtered across the room as that same girl responded again. "Uhm… yes. Just… don't do anything stupid! Okay?"

Ranma nodded and opened her eyes, making a over-accentuated effort to avoid looking at _anyone_ for fear of a swift change of opinion. "That thing." She asked pointing to the strange machine, while staring at the ceiling. "What is it?"

The entire room face-faulted, leaving the scantily clad girls in extremely compromising looking situations as several of them had fallen atop each other.

"Uhm… what… what'd I say…?" She asked, still pointing at the tampon dispenser.

"Sh-she's never…?" The girl who'd been speaking asked looking to Ukyo.

Ukyo shook her head in the negative. Then gave a feral grin. "You'll find out soon enough Ran-chan!"

"Oh… uhm… okay…" Ranma replied.

* * *

Aiko nigh on burst into tears at Ranma's indescribably cute blush.

"You…! You really didn't…! Ahaha!" The doctor laughed uproariously.

"Hey! I'm a guy! I was raised on the road! Not like pops ever told me anything!" The redhead exclaimed.

The doctor just kept laughing.

'The nerve!' Ranma thought bitterly.

Slowly the young doctor came to her senses and brought the laughter down to a few chuckles, wiping away the tears that had been wrought by Ranma's innocence in all things feminine.

"I sorta thought you doc's were supposed to keep straight faces!" Ranma said, feeling betrayed.

Aiko leaned back on her chair for a moment and put a finger to her chin, thinking speculatively.

"I'm the doctor. My rules. If something's funny, I'm gonna laugh at it. Sides', like you said, you couldn't help it. So you shouldn't be ashamed of it." The doctor said. Her red face and the glistening bit of mirth still visible in her eyes didn't do much but the speech worked for Ranma.

The redhead huffed, but accepted it. "Alright… I guess."

The raven haired doctor nodded. "Well. That's enough with the easy stuff. I think I've gotten to know you pretty well Ranma. So… do you feel comfortable telling me what it was that lead you and Akane to your break up? Not to mention _your_ reason for why you are here?"

Ranma hesitated a moment. She'd divulged private things and personal things, and things everyone knew about herself to this doctor. Despite her… strange attitude, much of what she said made sense. And… Ranma liked her.

"I… well… okay. Akane… The reason we ended and all that. Well… Doc, you gotta understand. I love the girl. Still do… always will but she just gets _so jealous!_ She's sweet and carin' and k-kawaii… but... Not to mention how much she likes being a guy! I… I told her yesterday that if there was any hint that she still wanted to… to be with me, that I'd take her back! But… That was a lie too. She's… She's like… Aw what do I know? I hate this touchy-feely crap!"

* * *

Ranma sighed. Three and a half weeks. She was barely even used to it. Her body felt foreign to her. Her mind was playing tricks on her. Her damn nipples got pointy when it got cold!

There were several things that had changed for the better but they were entirely defeated by the fact that she was a girl.

Sure, at first sex practically every night with the girl of her dreams _seemed_ like a good thing! But… things were getting… weird.

She sighed as she trudged to her next class. "This sucks…" For some strange reason she'd been… excessively angry or annoyed at the most stupid of things lately. Akane had done nothing… too out of the ordinary. But for some reason the red-head couldn't fathom, she'd flipped out on the silent Tendo, going off into a tirade of anger and malcontent.

True the other girl _had _slapped her butt. But why did it make her so angry? Looking back, she knew that the Tendo had done it before…

Suddenly her stomach lurched and rocked her to her left, and she flowed with it, slamming into one of the lockers clutching her stomach. "Gaah!" She yelped, shocked.

It went away quickly but still left the stinging impression that something was wrong with her.

"Damn… what's going on with me lately?" She murmured to herself.

"Heya Ranma!" Came the excited voice of a good friend, Ranma had made. "How do I look!?" The girl asked in an upbeat fashion.

Ranma grinned at her friend, her first real female friend who hadn't been a fiancée, or homicidal maniac out for her blood. She looked over the girls outfit and found nothing out of the ordinary with it.

"It looks great, Miya." She said, nonchalantly. "I still don't get why you even ask me. You know I don't have any idea."

The girl grinned. "That's what I like about you! No matter what I wear you still say it looks great!'

Ranma blanched. "Th-thanks! I really appreciate it!"

That came out a bit more harsh then Ranma intended. A LOT more harsh then Ranma intended. Noticing the girl flinching back in almost visible fear Ranma hastily dropped her aura, noting it's wild and charismatic fluctuations. "I… I'm sorry Miya. I… I'm just so _angry_ lately. I don't know what's going on…"

"Are you oka—!" The girl halted mid-word. "OH! So _that's_ what's going on!" The then gave Ranma a sly grin. "You're PMSing!"

"I AM NOT!" Ranma shouted angrily. Then, not so angrily. "What's that?"

The girl burst into laughter and began dragging Ranma to class. "Come on. I help you out after class. I'd say you should go to Akane, what with being her fiancée and all, but somehow I don't think she'd be as much help as you'd like."

…

"What are you talking about?" Ranma asked sanguinely.

The girl gave another sly grin. "Why you're blossoming femininity, of course!"

Ranma just sighed, as she rubbed her still mildly aching stomach. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

"Akane…" Ranma said shamefully.

Akane gave a grunt and turned the other direction, a sign popping out from behind her shoulder. "I've got nothing to hear from you. Jerk."

Ranma entire face contorted in rage, more so than she even _used_ to be accustomed to at one of Akane's insults but she quelled it furiously. That never worked before and it wouldn't work now. "I… I know… I just wanted to say, I'm sorry." She got out, using every ounce of her effort not to put a bite in those words.

"You should've just told me if you didn't like it!" Came the next sign. "Baka!"

Ranma bit her lip holding in the pure anger and bringing it down to a mere twitch. "I… I _do_, Akane! It's just… I didn't last night and…"

Akane turned and glared at the red-head, but signed nothing. Angrily, when Ranma too said nothing, sitting down at the table, she took a drink.

Ranma sighed and found her anger suddenly draining away. 'What the hell is happening to me!? Hormones, hormones, yadda, yadda but they can't possibly account for _this!_'

Ranma gave Akane a straight look. Beating around the bush never worked with her anyway. "Akane… what's a period?"

Akane promptly expelled the contents of her mouth, and choked on the contents of her throat.

"A-Akane!?"

Ranma proceeded to pound heartily on the choking girl's back until she recovered, drink going down the wrong tube, coughing a fit.

When the girl finally returned her eyes to Ranma, recovered now, she stared at the redhead. And began to chuckle, soundlessly. Her hand covered her mouth and she closed her eyes in pure mirth.

"Uhm… what's so funny? Why do people keep laughing at me so lately?" Ranma asked, piteously. She was surprised beyond reason to find actual _tears_ leaking from her eyes!

…

'God Dammit!' She screamed inwardly.

And Akane embraced her in a hug, warm and comforting.

Various people surrounding them gave stupid little 'aww how cutes' at their hug, but Ranma didn't care. "I'm sorry, tomboy…"

But Akane did. The situation _panged_ at her. It all but screamed _'wrong'_to her steadily changing feelings. 'Ranma… I love you but… why does this feel so… bad? I shouldn't be helping my _boyfriend_ with his first period… that's not how I wanted things to go…! I…'

Sometime later, she absently fingered the locket in her pocket. 'Do I really want this…?' She thought.

* * *

"So she started feeling like something was wrong? It's only natural I suppose…" Aiko said. "She's a girl. You can't blame her for wanting a boyfriend. Or _not_ wanting a girlfriend."

"I know! I of _all _people can't do that but… I started to feel it after that day. She started giving me these… ugly looks. Like she was disgusted with me, when she was the one who kept using the stupid locket! I… I'm not entirely blameless either…"

"Ranma… Before we start digging too deep we should probably end today's session. It's getting a bit late. Your appointment time ended twenty minutes ago too."

Ranma blinked. "It did? Wow.. I'm sorry, Aiko… I mean… Miss Mizuruna."

The girl smiled. "We're getting a bit intense and I thought it best that we continue for the next session. How's tomorrow at six sound?" Aiko asked, with a smirk.

"Uhm… I… I can't then. I'm… I'm sorry. I have—!"

"Plans. Yeah. Well, when is good for you?" She asked happily.

Ranma thought for a moment and then responded. "Monday. At four?"

Aiko nodded and Ranma rose.

"Alright Ranma. I'll see you then, okay?" She asked.

Ranma hesitated. "Aiko… I… I didn't get to what I wanted to ask you about… and it… it has to do with tomorrow."

"Ask away. I'm all ears." The pseudo black-haired girl replied.

"Well… I… A guy asked me out. He was my best friend before… well you know… So I know I can trust 'im. And I… like him… I think…" She finished so quietly Aiko could barely hear the girl. "Dammit! Three months ago I'd'a been contemplating seppuku over sayin' somethin' like that! I don't know why but… after my first… uhm… well… after that, I started looking… and he…"

Aiko paused for a moment in thought, transferring Ranma skewered and nervous-borne words into comprehensible meaning. Reviewing the information from her pen, and countermanding it with her own life experiences she formulated her answer. Curiously, she ended up paraphrasing the same words she'd used not minutes before.

"No one can be blamed for wanting someone. No girl can be _blamed_ for liking the opposite gender. It's a natural thing. Ranma… Your hormones influence who you're attracted to. I don't think I can help you with that. It's your choice. But think about this: Does it feel right? Think about later, after a few dates or so, and picture yourself. Does the image suit you or do you find it… well… disgusting? Just… keep thinking about it. That's all I can really say."

Aiko finished her monologue leaving a heavily mind strained Ranma.

Ranma sighed. It didn't help much. But she tried it, and found that she_was_ partially disgusted at the idea of being _with_ Hiroshi. Known Girlfriend and Boyfriend. But… not so much.

'I'm going insane.' She thought, as she nodded to Aiko and made for the door. 'I think I'm going insane.'

"Have a safe night, Ranma-chan!" Aiko shouted. "Sleep on it! Answers'll come to you!"

'I hope so…' the redhead thought. 'I _really_ do.'

* * *

Tai looked out through the axphonze windows of the ship to stare down at the rocky and dark area of space known as Pluto and grinned.

"Mai, my dear… We've arrived." He said darkly.

Mai grinned. "So soon too. Auric Technology advanced so much over the past twenty thousand years… but they're still nothing more than barbaric cretins. This whole ship stolen right under the Sampirial's noses!"

"Indeed, Mai. Indeed."

* * *

**End Chapter**

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**So not nearly as fast as the first chapter took but I'd still say pretty damn quick compared to Mark. It's slowly coming off hold as I rewire my thinking. I hope you enjoyed this. Not much plot development so much as laying out the grounds. Please review, and tell me what you think. I promise the spaghetti western writing style will be ending. Next chapter or the one after that will be the last of the Ranma/Aiko sessions. **

**I'd love to read a review or seventy! Well! I'll end as always!**

**Till Next!**

**MB**


	4. Strengthening

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½ or Sailor Moon.

* * *

**

**-Chapter Three-**  
**-Strengthening-**

* * *

A girl walked steadily out of her class, following yet another girl towards the lunchroom. Same drill, day in, day out. But the fact that she was following another girl was odd in and of itself. Hotaru Tomoe was her name. She was short, even for her age, but not the shortest. Her body was frail and thin beyond belief, and her breasts were average. Her black hair was also short but she liked it that way more-so than any other. 

Over the past fifteen years Hotaru had found that she was… different from other children. Different from other teens. Different completely from other people. She didn't know why but this difference had made itself known in her life for as long as she could remember.

Hotaru Tomoe did not hate. She found that somehow she had never been able to hate. In truth, it was possible that she had never 'hated' in her entire life. Never felt dislike. Nor anger. Nor jealousy. But… she didn't know _why._ Even these new ones, talking about her behind her back like they all did, at every school she attended. She didn't hate them.

Didn't even dislike them.

They would grow out of it; they would feel bad later when they gained age. At least, more age then the small sixteen years they had now. Of course there were always those that took a path paved with bad intentions, but she did not think that was the case with any of those here.

It wasn't like any of them ever said anything to her. Not anymore. She would simply walk away if they did; at least they'd grown old enough to realize how hurtful words could be on a young heart, but she heard the whispers. Everywhere she went. Every new school. She knew normal girls her age would get angry. Normal girls would be spiteful or sad.

She felt neither emotion.

All she felt was care.

'I hope that they become happier. That way they won't feel the need to be that way.' Were her thoughts, but she held no compunctions about voicing them.

"… Hotaru-chan. You are weird!" The rather heavy-set girl beside her exclaimed after a moment of odd silence, her voice echoing in laughter.

"I… I am…?" She asked, timidly. Ayumi said it… downright cheerfully. It… frankly almost scared her! Weird? Yes. She was called that all the time. But… not with a laugh. This 'friends' thing was downright creepy.

The girl sighed with an overly-dramatic exasperation that was ninety percent feigned. "Yes! Most girls would get mad! Wanna' get revenge or something! You're so weird!" She exclaimed.

"Oh! O-Okay… I'll try!" She turned her eyes towards the people who she'd heard talking about her, not-so-quietly behind her back. Their attentions weren't drawn at all though. She'd passed and their subject had changed.

She scrunched her face and glared… or tried too. It came out as a pathetically cute whine.

"Oh give up, Hotaru. It's no wonder you never get mad… if that's what you look like… hehe." Hotaru's friend, Ayumi, giggled.

Hotaru looked back to her friend and giggled too. "I'm sorry. I… I just don't understand why I would have to be angry with them. They're only insecure… they want to feel good about themselves. Make themselves look better to each other. There isn't anything wrong with that." Hotaru told her friend, a partially vacant smile on her face.

Ayumi looked dazed. "You really are weird…" She said. Then grinned. "But I like you that way! C'mon! Let's get in line!"

Taking one last glance at the children settled about the table, their trays affront them, already gobbling on their food, she turned back to her friend and nodded. "Mmm!"

Her friend. There were precious few she could call that. It felt… good. Very good. She'd been called many names. Odd. Weird. Snotty was a big one. Freakish. Bizarre. Anorexic; she didn't actually know what that one meant oddly enough, but nonetheless she knew a fair number of names to call people if she ever did feel such an emotion as anger.

With that the duo traversed the hallway to the end of the line, picking up their trays and waiting patiently.

They got their food after a short wait, unusual that because they were often forced to wait for at least fifteen or twenty minutes to get their food. Hotaru was happy that Ayumi's ire had not been raised today due to this stroke of luck. She always got so angry! Hotaru was content to wait. She was never in any hurry, as she'd always been a well fed girl. Sickly, yes. Hungry? Never.

For the past four or five weeks since Hotaru had moved to Furinkan high school she'd remained mostly in the background. She was content to hear stories of the golden days not more then a two or three months ago when battles would break out every day. Watch as her friends told stories about the crazy things that _used_ to happen to the upperclassmen here.

It was all very strange. Something about water. Hotaru disregarded it though. Healing people with a touch was one thing. Changing into an animal?

…

Riiight.

And she was a princess.

Hardly.

In counterbalance to the luck that she'd gained in the lunch-line, however, the last table remaining was directly behind those who Ayumi thought Hotaru should hate.

This wasn't unlucky due to the people behind her; more, it was due to Ayumi's _loathing_ of them. She couldn't stand it when people got so _angry._ "Just ignore them Hotaru. They're all a bunch of jerks anyways."

Hotaru lifted her small hands and gave hushed calming motions with them. "Its okay, Ayumi. I-I don't mind."

"Saotome!" The shout echoed across the lunch room silencing all present.

"Nakamuya!" Came the returning shout, drawing the attention to the sources of the two voices.

A very short and busty red-head, dressed in excruciatingly outlandish Chinese clothing and a middle height boy with short dark hair, dressed as many at the school normally did, very short and thin, glared at each other menacingly. Their eyes connected with miniscule bolts of lightning as their tempers flared. A red aura burst into life around the red-haired girl while, to everyone's surprise, a similar yet very dim yellow aura began emanating from the boy.

"This is the last straw you pervert! What did I ever do to you, huh!?" The red-head exclaimed viciously, finally angry enough to burst at the most recent bane to her existence.

"Oh I dunno! Threw me out a _window_ maybe!?" Came the swift retort. The boy held up a fist in anger, glaring hatefully at the redhead, his self declared rival.

Hotaru's jaw almost dropped at that one. It _did_ drop when she turned to Ayumi. The girl looked positively _dazzled!_

"Ranma's… back…!" The girl practically moaned, staring at the red-head obviously struck with a mild case of hero worship.

Hotaru was puzzled. What in the world was going _on!?_ Where were the teachers who stopped horrible fights like this? What… why were they all just_watching!_

She looked off to the side. "Is that a _betting pool!?" _She exclaimed, but her voice went unheard.

Ranma had taken a step closer, her aura growing still hotter as she gazed up at the tall boy. "You deserved it you peeping tom!" The red-head, obviously known as Ranma, shouted.

Despite the redhead's martial arts prowess, Aiga would _not_ back down. He fought on a different playing field. "Yeah, says the man who uses the girl's bathroom everyday when he _admits_ he still likes girls!" The boy retorted with a smirk, crossing his arms in front of himself with a superior sniff.

Ranma's face blared the same hue as her hair in a heartbeat. Whispers began instantly, and Ayumi was one of the many watching as Ranma's face heated ever more.

"Ranma… Ranma likes girls, right!?"

"Only Akane, baka!"

"No! They broke up!"  
"They always break up!"

"For good this time I mean! She couldn't take him being stuck."

"Honto!?"

"But I heard something about her and her friend Hiroshi…"

"That's a load of bull! Ranma would never…!"

Hotaru felt it all. The girl's embarrassment. Her pain. Her loathing. She couldn't _stand_it! Why were they all being so cruel to her!? Talking about her behind her back? Didn't they know how much that hurt? How much it caused people to burn inside?

"Well… I… you… Uhm… I don't! Er… well, that is…" The girl stuttered trying vainly to make a comeback to that one, yet failing miserably as it was a rather poignant point that he had made.

"You admit it! You still like girls! So who's the peeping tom, Ranma?" The boy taunted, causing Ranma to stare at her feet.

She didn't _look_ at other girls but that was a rather weak comeback. Fortunately, the other girls _knew_ this. That didn't stop the whispering though.

Hotaru had had enough.

"_Shut up_!" She screamed, standing, drawing every eye, and utter silence as she stood angrily, glaring angrily at the Aiga.

Aiga and Ranma too jolted their eyes to the new girl, staring. "Who the heck are you!?" The boy called Aiga exclaimed staring at her despondently.

"I'm… uhm… I'm Hotaru and… well. You… you shouldn't all be… uhm… doing that." She said, now extremely tentative under all the penetrating gazes. 'God, why did I do that!?' She screamed in her mind, mentally gnawing her fingernails.

They all blinked but said nothing, the silence loudly exuding the words, 'doing what?' and prompting a continuation.

"Uhm… stop… picking on her and talking about her! It… It's very hurtful!" She croaked out through her nervousness.

Ranma's eyes melted. 'Su-sugoi…' The red-head thought, looking at the girl. She spared a glance around the room and found both Akane and Hiroshi staring at the girl, as if transfixed.

Aiga on the other hand, smirked. "Well it's not my fault this _man traitor_ is such a pervert! I'm just protecting the girl's locker room from _him_, I'll have you know!

With those words, Hotaru felt something she'd never felt before come over her. Something… strange. Liberating. Thrilling and almost… Honestly, she didn't know what it was that she felt. But it was…

"If you weren't such an idiot, you could see that she's _obviously_ a girl and_you_ need glasses! Baka!"

It was cruel. Harsh. And her heart burned in self loathing and self hatred as the first words of malice ever exuded from those lips sprung forth.

Hotaru felt a gleam enter her eyes even as her heart began to scrunch up and her stomach began to heave. And then she gasped, her hands dashing to cover her mouth. 'What have I done…?'

"G-Gomen ne!" And she dashed out of the room, her food uneaten. Tears draining down her face leaving the room shocked.

'Who… who was she…?' Ranma thought. _'_I'm… _obviously…_ a girl…?'

That brought on a whole new level of depression.

People were beginning to forget.

Soon… no one would remember…

* * *

Hotaru buried her face in her hands, hunching over on herself, sick to her stomach. She could still _feel_ it! The anger! The emotion! All directed at that boy! That boy! 

Why? Why! He'd never done anything to deserve that! She knew he was spiteful and angry at the red-head. But what on earth had caused her to become so devilishly mad at him!?

"Oh god…" She moaned as her stomach lurched.

She stood and dashed away to the restroom like a madwoman, barely making it in time to reach a stall and vomit out what little of the lunch she had consumed.

When it was over she huddled into a ball, bawling into her knees.

"_I never want to feel this again…"_

"_I never want to feel this again…"_

Over and over the words filtered through her brain until finally the heat permeating her system began to evaporate.

"_I never want to feel this again…"_

She didn't leave for hours that day.

It seemed years.

"_I never want to feel this again…"_

That day she first felt anger.

* * *

Ranma Saotome glared her fury at all passing walls and lockers and pretty much anything physical in existence. She didn't physically abuse said items but she surely wanted too. "Damn that Nakamuya!" She shouted. 

Her two friends Gasanda and Miyataki trailed behind her, a wary three feet back. Gasanda was flinching in worry while Miyataki was roasting a marshmallow on Ranma's burning red aura.

"Oh, settle up, Ranma. Everyone's on your side, anyways. You know that, so what's the problem?" Miyataki asked as her marshmallow caught fire.

Ranma turned to glare at her friend. "That's not the point! He's a jerk! Aaagh! He makes me so _mad!"_

Ranma seethed for a few moments more, her aura dying down as the girl blew out the fire that had lit on her marshmallow and began eating.

"I think you like him." She said plainly.

"I DO NOT!"

Ranma was proud that there had been no hesitation whatsoever in that response. She didn't like Aiga. Thank god for that. She didn't know what she'd do if she had to control those stupid emotions she'd get every now and then around _him._ But there was a… connection there. Something… strange. Unseen. Not 'like' but…

Bah… she didn't have any idea.

But she did know that the same connection she felt with the school's pervert, she also felt with that strange girl who had stood up for her today.

The difference was she liked the girl ten times more than the jackass!

"Hey, who was that girl? Gasanda?" Ranma asked as soon as her aura finally went out, to Miyataki's immense disappointment.

Gasanda was a genius in the 'know-who' of almost everyone at the school. If there was someone there, Gasanda generally knew who it was. "Her name is Hotaru. From what I've heard, she's really weird. She doesn't react when people talk to her or joke right to her face. Just… smiles and walks away or something. That's what I've heard anyway. What she did today was pretty out of character for her. She hangs out with Ayumi Tenkura. You know? That fat girl from class 3-B?"

Ranma blanched. The girl had only been here a month or two. Ranma knew that. She didn't expect her friend to know quite _that_ much though. She also found herself annoyed at her friend for being so heartless. Sure the girl _was_ a bit large, but she didn't have to just _say it_. That was just cruel.

'Wait… since when do I care about stuff like that?' She thought to herself.

She shook it off and changed the subject, not wanting to delve into this character failure that she'd found in her new friend. Nor the character improvement she'd found in herself. "Well, I need to find her. That was… real nice of her and all…"

Gasanda nodded. "Yeah. You probably should. Though she's a little weird. She might be after "Ranma Saotome" if ya know what I mean, Ranma." The girl whispered so that only they could hear.

Ranma's eyes widened but firmed, realizing the implications of a transfer student coming to Furinkan High School. Based on past history alone, there was a decently good chance that Hotaru _was_ here looking for her. The_male_ her. But it didn't even matter now. Ranma 'Man-Among-Men' Saotome, was dead and she was his living ashes.

With that thought Ranma's mood became morose instantly. "Nah. Not anymore. Doesn't even matter now, right? I'll find her..."

A few moments of silence passed, and Miyataki saw the immense sadness that had come over her newest friend. "Maybe you like her!?" The girl exclaimed, hoping that the joke would pull the girl out of her funk.

It worked.

Ranma twitched, jerking out of her somber reverie with eyes narrowed, in a slight grin. "Will you cut it out!? I do not!"

The girl brightened. "Oh, you surely know I'm kidding! Tough it out Ranma! You've got a date tonight!"

Ranma's face fell, black clouds hovering above her. "Don't remind me…"

Even though the thought of the date sent shivers down her back, it made her feel… happy. Loneliness had been eating at her like a poison destroying her from the inside, but the thought of tonight drove that off.

At least it drove her heartache off. But only that. The thought of being _with_ the boy, terrified and disgusted her completely.

Ranma had fallen into a sort of determined depression since her session with Aiko the night before. She'd realized that the idea of her and Hiroshi together for more than this night sickened her, and therefore, she didn't want to really go anymore… in her mind at least. But she _ached_ for someone… _anyone _to be there like Akane had been.

Then reality would set in and she'd want hurl. For being so weak. For being a stupid girl. And for not being able to do a damn thing to fix the pain Akane's departure had left in her.

Her problems had changed _drastically_ in the long run. No longer was she accosted by rivals seeking the hand of her fair fiancée number twenty three. No longer did she have to worry about changing gender whilst wearing feminine clothes or hiding from water.

No. Her problems were entirely different now.

Thankfully her second period had ended two days ago.

Amen.

She still did have a fair few who hated her guts. Ryoga being one of them, also thankfully. Even _he_ had mellowed out though now that she was a girl. Damn him. They still had the occasional brawl but Ranma could tell Ryoga was only doing it to keep her spirits up. A _friendly_ "Ranma Prepare to Die!"

…

They'd only had one battle since all of this began, and after that it seemed as if he was no longer even trying to find her. And that battle had been a severe disappointment. Couldn't they see she just wanted to be exactly like she used to be!? There was no difference! She was every bit the man she used to be!

Her newest problem though, had most definitely been one Aiga Nakamuya. Ever since she'd thrown him out the second floor window, and his camera had been discovered recording the entire conversation they'd had about Ranma planting said camera in the girl's locker room, he'd dropped considerably in popularity.

Of course, he'd sworn revenge. They all did in the end.

Thus began a bout of endless pranks, but the problem with that was that Ranma had barely responded to them at all, thus driving Aiga to still further ludicrous pranks to utterly humiliate the strongest Neriman Martial Artist.

Today though, had been the last straw. And a glimmer of the old Ranma had arisen within the ever-downtrodden redhead.

"That… pervert…" She thought, returning her mind to Aiga, if only to get it _away_from Hiroshi. "Those were my favorite pair!"

Miyataki chuckled again. "You gotta admit Ranma, it IS funny. In a sick, stalker-ish sort of way at least. I still can't believe you wear those!"

Ranma flushed beat red. A common color for her face these days. Ever-since she'd been locked her life had become a case of unending embarrassment for the not-quite-neo-girl. It was either that or depression. "I like them! They're comfy!"

She was of course, referring to the pair of horse covered panties that she often wore as pajama's that Aiga had taken the liberty of stealing and posting in the hallway, on a wall, along with the unbearably embarrassing sign reading "Garments of a 'Man Among Men.'" How, when, or where from, she didn't know, but it definitely was creepy.

"Come on. We got another twenty minutes left. I bet we can find her!" Ranma exclaimed, changing the subject.

Her friends followed along happily, Miyataki making a few Sherlock Homes jokes, and Ranma sighing with a smile.

Having regular friends was downright peculiar.

But they made her feel warm in a way she didn't think anything else ever had. It was only around them that she could show any emotion anymore. Them, and Aiga. Anger was easy around him.

Hiroshi and Dai had a bit of that effect too…

She just felt so… so… depressed. Even now it was burning inside her, tearing her apart. She felt her life was over, and it wasn't long before her anger faded back to the uncaring shell of the once lively pigtailed girl.

Her friends could only try to cheer her up by embarrassing her.

It… seemed to be the only thing that worked.

* * *

Aiga Nakamuya was a normal, average, seventeen-year-old, high school student. He got good grades and had friends and enemies like all people did. He watched sports and competed. And he liked girls. Probably a bit too much to be healthy, he'd admit. 

That's how he thought of himself.

To the rest of the world though, Aiga Nakamuya was a pervert. In every sense of the word. He _loved_ spying on women in their locker rooms. Good looking ones of course. He'd dated multiple girls at the same time, strung girls along, and actually managed to coerce a threesome once or twice.

He hadn't been a virgin since he was twelve, and he'd lost count of the number of girls he had been with since then.

But, frankly ever since that event with the thrice damned 'Ranma Saotome!' that had changed _drastically._

Well. Not so drastically.

"Damn you, Saotome…" He muttered under his breath as he silently walked away from the school, glad the day was over, and also brimming with pride at having actually gotten a rise out of his usually somber rival. But it wasn't enough. "What would it take to make you so embarrassed you never show your face at school again?"

Obviously, he was not a martial artist. Therefore, Ranma had her own morals about hitting him, so he was safe in that regard… well… sort of. He had been thrown out a window. Even so, Ranma had mastered throwing people so that they landed without coming to any serious harm. A strange thing to master to be sure but that was the only explanation for it. He'd feel hurt _jumping_ off a second story balcony, while after being thrown _through the glass_ he'd barely felt a pinprick on his landing. Strange…

Despite her moral standings about fighting the weak, she _was_ Ranma Saotome, meaning that there was no way he could _fight_ Ranma into humiliation. It wasn't possible even though that _would_ be the biggest shot to Ranma's pride that he could ever come up with.

He contemplated for a time, and came up with nothing.

It was true, his reputation for being a 'good guy' was shot, but that honestly didn't matter. The event that had exposed his perversion only barred off about half the school's feminine side from his influence. He was surprised at how many thought him _bold_ for such a stunt!

And by how many of them he'd found had a secret fetish for voyeur. Hotcha!

But still. Ranma Saotome would pay. No way around it. He had to have his revenge and even that stunt today hadn't been nearly enough.

But it had gotten him thinking when he'd stolen those from her room the night before. "She actually wears those…? Maybe she _IS_ becoming a girl!"

And girls were_dateable._

For a split second he'd thought he'd struck a gold mine. Make the girl, since she actually_was _a girl now, fall in love with him! Then dump her in the worst possible way! He mentally examined the female log-file he'd kept in his mind for Ranma's female form, as he did for all girls with beauty, even gender cursed ones, and found that she was_incredibly_ attractive.

Fortunately, for his sake, he _was_ smart. _Very_ smart. Some would say he was Nabiki's polar opposite in his tactical skills, because it took only that split second for him to realize just how wrong something like that could go. Romance and Ranma in the same sentence made plans fall apart faster than Ranma's fists could move.

Events that hadn't been in his plans could _easily_ transpire with a girl of her beauty. Like him accidentally starting to love her or something. Bah. He'd never fallen in love. The thought sickened him, but he knew that, when he did, it was likely that it would come upon him without him ever expecting it and the LAST person he wanted to cause _that_was the 'heart-breaker Saotome' herself.

As an example for that very thought, he looked to Akane and Ukyo. Their depression these days knew little bounds. Especially Ukyo's.

He looked over to the okonomiyaki chef and found her head hung in utter defeat. A smile was on her face but she was hurting. Badly. It sent a pang of regret down his heart. He may be a pervert but he did _care_. Ukyo had truly loved Ranma… and she didn't deserve to lose the one she loved.

Not like that…

"Poor Ukyo-san…" He murmured. "I hope she finds someone better then that git, Saotome…"

Then, he turned his eyes to Akane and found…

Wait. Why was Akane looking at him?

Walking towards him?

And what was up with that… cat?

"Aiga." Akane signed, dejectedly as she approached. She obviously did _not_ want to be here, but she was anyway. That meant she wanted _something_. So it was _possible_ that her dejection was a front! Maybe his reputation in bed had spread to the speech, and now sex, deprived Tendo. Ah, what could he say? He remembered the days of battle every morning for the Tendo's hand. Best days of his life, since he'd been working almost EVERY other girl in the background.

Guys were idiots sometimes. But now things were coming full circle. He'd gotten half the girls in school _because_ of the Tendo! Now he would _get_ the Tendo!

Yes!

Or… so he hoped. But considering her look that probably wasn't likely.

"Nice to see you." She said holding up a sign covered in murky and molded wood. Obviously, her way of being completely sarcastic. No. His fantasy stood little chance of becoming reality. "Hey are you sure about this?" Read the next sign as she turned and looked down, talking to the cat… Weird…

Aiga grinned. Whatever. "Akane Tendo. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Follow me." The girl's next sign stated firmly. Not a question.

Aiga looked at his watch. Nothing was on his schedule but it was never smart to take orders.

"Nah. I'm on my way home at the moment, so I'll just—GAK! What're you doing!?" He exclaimed as the girl chucked him over her shoulder like little more than luggage.

"Hey! Put me down! I—" And suddenly he could no longer speak. But Akane was… humming?

Aiga's eyes widened. He'd thought she _had no_ vocal cords any more! That shouldn't be possible! He found himself in a secluded back alley and even though he found himself unable to speak his spirits rose. Yes! Public alley sex! He knew he'd luck out with the youngest Tendo someday!

"I can't believe the next Senshi is a complete and total pervert!" The girl exclaimed and Aiga's eyes widened still more.

"That's exactly _why_ he's a Senshi, Akane. Well… sort of… This is Sailor Meneloth. The Senshi of Pleasure." The black cat said with a perfectly straight face.

The reaction took a few seconds as Akane processed that new piece of information.

"WHAT!?" The raven haired girl scoffed angrily after a moment or two of letting that register. "Then why in the _world_ should we give him powers? So he can fill the world with perverts!? Senshi of Pleasure… hah! More like Senshi of Perversion!"

"I thought you couldn't speak!" Aiga exclaimed. Tried to exclaim but nothing came forth. He disregarded the talking cat. That was his imagination. Had to be. Simply had to be.

Despite his lack of sound the girl seemed to catch his words anyway.

"I'm the Senshi of Sound and Song, baka. I only speak when I have to." Akane replied with a derisive snort. She'd always _hated_ Aiga. "And I can't believe I'm doing this for you, Apollo. Why do we even need him? I can protect Sailor Moon on my own."

Over the last few days spent with the cats, Akane had found that, if she pulled hard enough at the power resting beneath her skin, she could make herself able to speak without transforming. It was… _extremely_ taxing, though the cats said it would develop further with practice.

"No. You can't. You may be able to destroy a planet but your enemy might be even stronger! Liopolis said that we need _all_ the help we can get Akane. And despite his… appearance… Sailor Meneloth was one of the strongest fighters of the Auric Era. Also, wherever the Senshi of Perversio-er… Pleasure… is, The Senshi of Purity, Sailor Astraea, is sure to follow._"_

Akane's eye twitched. "You've gotta be kidding me… All right… let's just get it over with."

Aiga was just freaking out now. A talking cat? A talking _Akane_!? An enemy? Senshi? Senshi…? Wait...

…!

_Senshi_!? As in fuku toting magical gir—!

Suddenly Akane lifted a thin scroll into the air and Aiga froze.

"_Aoide Power Make-up!!"_

The girl screamed, deafening his ears, but no one came. No one else even seemed to hear!

But instantly his gaze was transfixed with beauty unparalleled. Her form lit up like a thousand volt bulb and her clothes disappeared, while a fuku began to trail its way up her body, lights flashing everywhere, while music fluttered through his ears in an explosive array of magnificent sounds and colors.

The black fuku, boots, and gloves encased her even as the yellow trim descended onto her form as if from above and in seconds, in hours, it was finished.

"A… Akane…? Tendo?" He asked, finally able to speak again.

"I'm Sailor Aoide… the Senshi of Song." She said plainly. Then she gave a smirking wink. "Heh. You're turn. Wonder how you'll look as a girl?"

Aiga failed to register that comment. Purposefully. Because he _really_ hoped that wasn't…

Watching Akane, he hadn't noticed the black cat known as Apollo do a small flip, but now he noticed as the cat pushed the scroll into his hand.

"Wh-what's this?" He asked staring down at the scroll, tied by an intricate lime green ribbon. Then his eyes widened and a few words they'd been saying clicked.

"NO WAY!" He screamed, dropping the scroll like it was on fire.

The Senshi of Song quirked her head to the right. "Aw c'mon Aiga! I just need you to say Meneloth Power Make-up! That's all really." She said in her cutest voice.

"No way! Not happening! I'll never—!" And he found his words empty once more as the girl in front of him began to hum once again.

He began yelling at the top of his lungs though nothing came out. The girl simply smiled as she hummed. "This is the Silence Song, Aiga. Would you prefer to never speak again? Betcha that would keep you from being a pervert!"

Sweat trailed down Aiga's neck but he found his voice returned once more. "Y-you gotta be kidding me! There ain't no way!" He exclaimed, backing up against the wall staring down at the scroll in his hands.

"You're choice, pervert." The girl shrugged. "Eternal Silence or say it."

Aiga gulped but he really only had one choice. Akane could kick his ass _without_Senshi powers! Hell he hadn't even believed in the _existence_ of the Senshi till the world went Dark a few months ago! And now he… he…

"Damnit!" He glared. "I'll get you for this, Tendo-san."

He picked up the small scroll and shivered as he stared at the Senshi before him, awed by the power he could feel around her, but determine to not feel fear.

Words sprung into his mind as his fingers laid upon the old looking papyrus scroll, tied with the lime green ribbon that felt so strangely familiar to him that _hurt. _He held the scroll aloft realizing that he couldn't stop the words from coming out of his mouth.

He sure tried though.

"_Me-Mene…. Meneloth… p-power… make-up…"_

And to his immense wailing, light blared forth in a circle around him. "This can't be happening… this _can't _be happening.

He felt his body shrink. Felt his chest expand while his private areas… changed. Suddenly, his clothing disappeared and all the pressure, all the anger, all thought entirely was washed away as he exhaled in nigh on orgasmic pleasure. The power of a Senshi blared to life within him. Within her.

When it was over with, her form was caressed in a pure black suit with a light green tinged trimming and fuku. On her forehead blared a circle with an arrow pointing out the upper right, while a cross pointed out from the bottom. A mixture of the symbols for male and female.

She looked down at herself, coming down from some sort of pleasurable high, her eyes rolling back into their sockets. For a moment it didn't register.

Then her hands trailed up her body.

A shiver crawled up her spine. Terror welled within her as the glow of power, that somehow felt completely natural settled around her.

…

"_AaaaaahhhhhhhHH—!"_

Instantaneously, the screaming halted. Aiga still felt air filing through her lungs. Still felt her vocal chords burning as she tried to scream. But nothing came out.

Breathing heavily as fear crept up her spine she set her face. "Change me back!" She mouthed, demanding the words to come forth as she glared hatefully at the, once again humming Tendo. "Change me back, NOW!"

A melody of beauty and simply rhythm echoed from the Senshi. Aoide closed her eyes as she hummed, a smile on her face. She chuckled inwardly, relishing in the plight of the damned pervert. Served him right!

"P-Please! I can't be a… A… Please!" She shouted to the unrelenting Senshi of Song, tears beginning to brew in her eyes.

Aoide heard nothing but was shocked when she found the girl sniveling. Her almost neon blonde short hair, shimmered with her tears, giving the Senshi of Song a sharp pang of guilt.

She ceased her humming and looked to the girl, now crying. Meneloth didn't say anything, but she sniffed loudly and wiped a tear out of her eye, staring at Aoide.

Then came the outburst. "Ch-change me back… I can't be a girl! I can't! I'm a guy! This is sick! I'm sorry! I'll never be a pervert again, I swear! I'll stop trying to get revenge on Ranma but—!"

Akane's shock turned to anger as it became apparent that the girl was actually _whining_. Her problem wasn't even as bad as _Ranma's!_ Let alone her_own_ problem. Not speaking and all. "Oh shut up, Loth! It's you who changes yourself back, not me, baka! Think yourself normal and you'll be normal! Sheesh. And I thought _Ranma_ was bad! Think of how it is for _her! _She's stuck in a body that isn't her own and will be for the rest of her _life!_"

The words panged at Meneloth. 'To be a girl… stuck in this body… for the rest of my life… I never knew… never even thought… And Ranma… she just… takes it all. God… and I was feeling sorry for her _fiancées!_' Terror mixed with dread mingled with horror enveloped her at the thought. Forever cursed to be in a body that wasn't his own.

Like a lifeline she clung to Aoide's words.

The girl thought of herself without the Senshi fuku. Thought of herself as a normal, average, _male_, seventeen-year-old high school student who got good grades and had friends and enemies like all people did. A normal guy who watched sports and competed, and liked girls, probably a bit too much to be healthy.

And to her relief. Her_undying_ relief, she felt the power seep away. Felt her body expand and contract in all the right places.

In an instant that felt an eternity it was over and she was _normal _again.

He turned to the Senshi before him quaking visibly in fear and fury. "W-why did you do that? Why did you…?"

"Aiga. That's your name right?" The cat spoke up suddenly, his definite male voice interrupting the boy.

"Y-yeah..." He trailed, his eyes jolting to the cat. His head was rolling. This was surreal! Impossible! Cats could _not_ talk!

"We are here to find and protect the Moon Princess. If we do not, then our kingdom, and this world sometime after will surely be utterly destroyed. You are one of the few born to protect the princess."

Gaining some measure of his confidence, not to mention breath, back, Aiga sarcastically replied, "Right… and I'm supposed to believe that!"

The cat nodded firmly, without the slightest hint of humor. "Yes."

Aiga's temper grew. He felt it. Beneath everything, he _felt_ the power burning there. He could sense the scroll, just small touch away. He could reach out and grab it… say the words and feel that power. That wonderful, sickening power all over again. He shook his head vigorously, ridding himself of the temptation. "Why me!? Couldn't you have just picked someone else!? Ryoga, or Shampoo or something! I can't fight anybody! You know that, _Akane!_"

The Senshi sighed as she trained her eyes on the boy. "There is no 'picking.' You were _born_ for this. Not that I'm surprised. Of course someone like _you_ would be the Senshi of Perversion!"

"_Pleasure _Akane." Apollo quipped.

"Same thing!"

Aiga glared. "I am not a pervert!" He stomped towards her, empowered by his rage. "And I won't be doing _anything_ with this! Do me a favor and _never_ talk to me again!" The boy stomped off angrily, determined to disbelieve, and eventually forget _everything_ that had just happened.

A few moments of silence reverberated through the alleyway until the black cat chuckled. "That went well."

Aoide laughed. She had to admit, the girl that Aiga had become was quite pretty. Ever since Ranma and she had begun… well… ruining the bed sheets, she'd become quite appreciative of the attributes of her own gender.

"I bet she comes around by tomorrow. Five bucks says she transforms again tonight." The girl said to her small cat.

Laughing as he leapt to her shoulder, the cat replied haughtily, "My money's on three days."

Aoide glowed golden for a moment and was Akane once more. Turning her head to the side, she nodded, indicating it was a bet.

Exiting the alleyway she sighed as a stray thought crossed her mind. 'You'd better thank me for getting him off your tail, Ranma.'

…

'Ranma…'

* * *

"_Pop_!" Came a resounding and hellishly loud cry from the outside of the Saotome compound. It echoed across the grounds alerting the person it was directed to of his daughter's presence. 

And not a minute too soon.

A sharp woosh of air was all the warning the panda was given before a foot came colliding with the air that replaced him.

Ranma landed with a curse and flipped back up into the air, well over the house spinning like mad with a downward second kick aimed for the quickly recovering panda.

Again, Genma dodged her daughter's kick, barely escaping the vicious bone fractures that could have resulted from such a maneuver.

It didn't take long as punches and kicks began flying between the two, for Genma to figure out that his daughter was agitated.

_Very _agitated.

Something was bugging her to a level that she could not shake it on her own. Something, Ranma was famous for. The boy… ah, what was the point? The 'girl' was more independent than he had been at her age. Emotionally, at least.

"What's…" He grunted as a sharp fist connected with his gut causing him to drop the sign he had produced.

He recovered quickly, his mass easily defending against her lightning quick punches.

"What's wrong, Ranma?" He wrote as he grunted with another punch getting through his guard. He was certain there had been more than one punch in it though it only felt like one impact. His daughter was becoming better then he had ever been. Back when he had been in his prime he didn't think he could truly beat her anymore.

But he was a slick old fool.

After all, who was it that had devised the Hell's Cradle attack that defeated Ranma so soundly?

He bounded forward and landed on one arm bouncing as only a huge martial artist panda could; he flew into the sky to come falling down right atop his daughter, only to flash away in an instant using his ki to bash himself towards the ground directly in front of Ranma.

The one place she wouldn't have expected.

It didn't gain him much but he acquired a well aimed hit to the girl's face which sent her flying away towards the house wall.

The sky was blue and sunny but edges of red were beginning to trail into the slowly fading afternoon. Fitting scenery for a battle. The grass was green and the day itself had seemed to be smiling at them. There was no rain anymore. Once upon a time it had rained every day three times a day.

Now that his daughter no longer felt the effects of the curse. Now that she was locked, rain didn't follow her and, for some reason, it seemed to leave all of them alone. He had splashed himself with a bucket purposely to attain his panda form today.

It kind of saddened him, how dull life became without his daughter's curse to always land them in the most unusual of situations. Now it was just her.

And she had been becoming more and more depressed.

Never quite like this though. Never frustrated.

He held up as long as he could but he could no longer dodge her lightning speed. She flashed around him like a fly on steroids and at some times moved so quickly that he couldn't even see her.

And finally he left an opening large enough for her to pull a full punch through, rocketing him away from the battle.

He slammed forcefully into the wall, the same one she had easily rebounded off of earlier, and grunted with the pain of wood splinters in his furry back.

Slowly he slid down the wall as he watched his daughter breathing, face the image of focus and perfection of martial arts.

She was his daughter. A daughter to be proud of. That… above _anything_, was certain.

Slowly he pulled himself up from the ground and looked at his daughter with questioning eyes. An utter defeat today. But there was a reason behind his daughter's frustration.

"Grouff.." He bellowed.

Ranma's eye twitched for a moment but she nodded as her heavy breathing calmed. She shrugged a bit and crossed her arms beneath her breasts taking a lax stance. "Thanks Pops… I needed that."

"Gwow…?" He replied, his tone quirking to indicate a question. He hobbled over to the house's entrance and sat on the back porch, patting the spot next to him.

Ranma followed him without a word and sat next to him, to stare out at the day. Birds sung again, their fight having finished, their adrenaline seeped away.

"I… have a date tonight pops." Ranma fidgeted but said, after a time of silence. She hated talking about this but who else could she talk to? She needed to get it off her chest.

"Grouw…" The panda answered without much of a care. That was expected. Even stuck as a girl, Ranma was always a magnet for the weaker gender. Of course she had a date.

Ranma closed her eyes and steeled her nerve. He could only kill her once after all, right? "With… with a boy, Pops."

Genma's eye widened in shock. A boy! A _boy!?_ _A BOY!? _Was she insa—!

He turned and looked into his daughters eyes. They were… forlorn, staring into the sky as the sun slowly slipped down the horizon.

The panda let out a sigh. How could he be angry? He should have known this would happen.

'Chikusho…' Though the aging panda. He felt like an absolute failure. But… there was nothing he could have done. Nothing any of them could have done. Truthfully, they couldn't even blame the curse. If not for that… Ranma wouldn't even be here now.

And, after being faced with that… being faced with the thought of losing his only child, his flesh and blood, forever. Genma could handle anything.

Anything.

He turned to look towards her, his eyes soft and un-hating, but he found his daughter's eyes shut tight. As if waiting for him to explode or something!

Well, if she _expected_it! "Foolish boy!" A sign impacted her head, though far lighter then she had been anticipating.

She looked up at her father once more as he stood and walked into the house.

"P-pops?" She questioned almost tentatively as the man walked around the corner. Moments later she heard the sound of water splashing across a head of fur, and the man reappeared, his footsteps lighter then before.

Ranma watched him as he took his seat beside her once again.

Ranma wanted to say something smart. Something brash and sarcastic just to prove she was still Ranma Saotome. To prove that she would forever be Ranma Saotome. A man, above all others. But nothing came. "Oyaji… I'm sorry… I—"

"Do you like him?" The man asked interrupting her. His voice was soft, and firm. His tone, strong but not angry.

"Y-yeah… A little. He's… he's always been a friend. So…" Her voice was soft. Afraid. Afraid of being forever rejected. Forever a memory of the son her father once had.

And then… the old man smiled. "Well... That's all that matters then." He said, giving his daughter a warm face.

Ranma was shocked. Beyond shocked. "Th-that's it! You… you're not gonna… gonna make a big deal outta this!?" She shouted, her shock blossoming into anger. What was this!? Where was his 'be a man' spittle!?

"Did you want me to, boy?" Genma asked.

Ranma's anger wouldn't abate. She was a man! He should _want_ her to be what she was! He should be mad! He should be raving! But… she didn't want him to be…"Yes! Er… No! I… I don't know… I thought… I thought you want me to be—!"

"A man?" He interrupted, asking.

That brought Ranma up short. "Uh… yeah…" She said lamely.

Genma's face hardened. He had to give up his vision of his son. This was the final straw. His son would never grace his eyes again, and the boy's memory would only hurt Ranma. Instead, he had a new child. The same one but… different. But she was _his_! And by god he would make her happy.

In the end… that was all he really wanted.

"I can't make you something you're not Ranma. To me you'll always be my boy, like I told you before you left. But I know that you won't ever be happy like that. Trying to live up to a form you don't have. I've… I've faced that… it's time you did. If you don't… you'll end up alone. And that's not what I want for you, boy."

The word 'boy' was a bitter taste in his mouth, but to Ranma it was a shark bite.

As Genma spoke Ranma felt her heart sink. Her world fall down around her. No! _No!_ She could beat this! She could win! She… was…

Going on a date with a boy in two hours…

Who the _hell_ was she kidding…?

A tear slipped out of her eye as Genma stood and began to walk away back into the house leaving Ranma with an entirely new hole in her heart.

Genma saw her shaking. Dry sobs wracked her body but he would leave her to her dignity. That was probably what she wanted.

"Pop!" She shouted stopping him in his tracks. He turned and stared at his daughter's back, listening as she tried vainly to stop the tears that he could tell were falling down her face.

"Yeah, Ranma?" He said, his voice still firm and hard, though he wanted very much to let it crack. He couldn't be easy. This _wasn't_ easy. But she could handle it. If anyone could, his daughter could.

"When… when I was a guy… I was the best right? I was the best! And you were proud of me! R-Right!?" Her voice squeaked in nigh on hysterics, anger mixing with mortification, her world hanging by its toes. She'd clung so hard… even though her life was gone. Her manhood completely washed away, she'd clung to that image she had of herself, as the best martial artist ever. A _true_ man among men.

And now her own father was tearing it apart. Her own father, who'd made her into all she had been.

Genma's heart softened. His voice remained firm, but at least he could let his daughter know that despite the change, despite what she was becoming and who she would become, she was _his_ child.

He approached her cautiously. Her shoulders were still heaving from her sobs. "Ranma… you _are_ the _best_. The best son a father could ever hope for. A lesser man probably would've picked up the tanto and been done with it. You're strong. And I'm proud of you. I always will be."

His words made her boil. They were lies! All the taunts about being a girl when she grew up! All the jabs… Everything she'd ever known had been about how she was never good enough!

"How!" She screamed, her eyes blazing, cheeks red with tears; she turned and glared at the man standing behind her. "How!? Be a man in all things Ranma! That's not manly Ranma! Well what I'm doing now_sure as hell _ain't manly! This is _wrong!_ And now you're… you're! How can you possibly be—!"

"Dammit Girl! I want you to be happy! Ever since Tendo's girl left you you've been moping around like the world's ending! I'm just telling you, it's not! I… That's all… I want… It's all I've always wanted." Genma sat beside his daughter and placed a comforting hand on her small back, amazed at how much of it his hand could truly cover. A small girl, his daughter was, but more powerful than anything in the world.

And he'd always be there for her. No matter how much of an idiot he could be at times.

"P-Pops…"

Ranma and her father had been close once. As close as a father and son could be… but at some point they had drifted apart, and a bar had fallen between them. Ranma had forgotten that, despite his many faults, and they were many, Genma was a good man at heart. A foolish man. But a caring one.

She felt the bar slowly begin to be chiseled away that day. A smile grew on her lips, as she felt the comforting arm of her father rub away some of the pain in her heart.

And so it was that Nodoka, who had not really meant to be spying on her family, finally remembered why it was she had fallen in love with Genma Saotome.

It did not come as too much of a shock, however, when that same man suddenly lobbed his daughter across the yard to crash directly into the back wall, hanging upside-down impaled inches into it.

"You give up the art, boy, I'll disown you on the spot!" The man shouted.

"Fat chance, baka-oyaji!" And the battle began once again.

Nodoka could only smile. 'My husband _was_ a good father.'

* * *

Two hours later Ranma found herself clean and refreshed. And despite how stupid it seemed, she felt ready to take on anything. All because of her idiotic panda of a father. 

Heh.

He could be downright_ kind_ when he really tried at it. Memories had been sparked, during that battle, of easier times. Times when it had been just him and Pop against the world.

Riding on Genma's shoulders as he ran spiritedly out of a town. Laughing with him as they ate enormous sausages. Teasing that Junko woman who he had hated during their stay at that shrine during the winter months when he was seven.

The times Genma would give him food even after he'd lost the battles over dinner. There were many such memories that had sprung into her mind that had been long forgotten. Before Jusenkyo and Shampoo's crusade against them.

They had been the best of times.

Though… why did she remember a huge crowd of people with pitchforks chasing them when they'd been running out of that town?

Junko would always slap her father for some reason too…

And there was something about those sausages…

Ranma disregarded it. They were_ really old_ memories after all.

The doorbell rang and Ranma languorously rose to get it. It was time. But she felt good about it now. She opened the door and saw Hiroshi there, a casual grin on his face. "Yo Ranma!"

His clothes didn't signify a formal date at all. A brand-named t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and an expensive looking pair of sandals were all he wore, something she'd often seen him in when ever she'd had a free moment or two to spend _not_ being chased by fiancées back when she was a guy.

All in all, he looked pretty damn good compared to the school uniform she saw him in ninety percent of the time. Not that she cared.

Much.

She smiled. "Hey, Hiro. Bout' time." She joked, casually calling him by his usual nickname. This wasn't hard at all! It didn't really even feel like a date. Just… like friends.

Perfect.

"I see you went all out. I'm touched, buddy!" Hiroshi said, also joking, as Ranma looked not a whisker different then she usually did. Her black pants, red Chinese shirt, slippers and trademark pigtail permeating her being.

Ranma grinned. She could do this. As long as she didn't think of it as a date, it was fine! And it was even easier with him acting like he always had when she used to be a guy! 'Whew… and here I thought this would be completely awkward and weird…'

"What did you expect?" She asked, cheerfully, folding her arms beneath her breasts.

His fingers came up to his chin looking at her for a moment before answering, "Nothing really. Heh. But honestly, remember when you went on that date with Kuno for the wishing sword? If you wear that I'd be—!"

"Don't push your luck." Ranma replied, annoyed. She could tell the boy was utterly kidding but that episode of her time with the curse struck a nerve in her.

As a matter of fact, any mention of Kuno and her struck a nerve.

"Kidding, Ranma. So, ready?" He asked, knowing Ranma more than well enough to know that she wouldn't take that too seriously, beyond being a mere jab.

"No, she is not." Came a sharp voice, that Ranma instantly winced at.

"Sh-shimatta…" She cursed under her breath. Instantly she felt her entire head yanked back by her pigtail and found herself looking directly up into the stern eyes of her mother.

"I-Itai…! K-Konbanha, Okasan…!" She yelped twitching at the pain in the back of her head, back arched till it was parallel to the floor, jerking as the woman tugged mercilessly on her pigtail.

"You didn't tell _me_ you had a date, dear." The woman said, harshly. Ranma could feel the woman's hand fiddling with her pigtail but she couldn't really do anything about it. Holding her hands up she twitched, as she felt Hiroshi's mirthful eyes on her.

"I… uh… I…"

Suddenly she felt her hair free itself from the iron grip her mother kept on it and righted herself as fast as possible, her hair slipping through her mothers fingers. It cascaded down and fell on her shoulders, and spilling over them to barely caress the top of her breasts and the tips of her shoulder blades.

"Now she's… well… not _ready_, but I'm afraid that's the best I can do on such short notice. You see, I wasn't _informed._" The older woman said though her eyes remained steadfastly glaring at her nervous daughter.

That was a lie actually. She'd forgotten in light of some rather… private matters. It had only been ten or fifteen minutes ago that she had gotten out of the bedroom. After the display of… well… after the scene she'd witnessed earlier she'd felt Genma had deserved a bit of a reward.

It had been the first time either of them had done anything sexually related in almost ten years. Needless to say, it had been quite the experience.

Unfortunately, it dawned on her far too late that her daughter would be leaving soon, and did not have a woman's assistance, therefore would be dressing like a man. So at the last minute she decided that this was the best she could do.

"I'm sorry, dear boy; what was your name again? Hiroshi, I think? Yes. Well, I'm afraid I was not _told_ that my daughter had a date tonight so unfortunately this will have to do. I assure you, should you date again, however, that she will be properly prepared." She said. She turned her eyes towards the boy and found a most humorous sight. "I hope you will be a bit more formal as well young man."

Ranma too, turned back to Hiroshi, about to make a joke of some sort, but the words died on her lips.

He was staring.

At her.

Apparently he'd never seen her with her hair down before either.

"W-wow… Ranma… I… Sugoi…" her friend breathed, almost completely forgetting that Nodoka had even spoken.

Her face heated like a forest fire.

Oh yes. _Now,_ it was a date.

'Chikusho Okasan…' She thought.

The woman chuckled as they walked out the door; the boy couldn't keep his eyes off her.

Honestly, she had the same problem as the boy. Her daughter's hair, when let down, was a thing that would work well as a museum exhibit.

Or perhaps as a visual aphrodisiac.

* * *

Ranma was staring around in awe as she clicked the strange belt across her chest. It pinched her breasts quite painfully but she'd gotten used to that sensation over the past while, what with Akane's clumsy hands_mawing_ them during the night! 

But this was a brand new experience for her and she was enjoying every minute of it. She stared at the door and all the strange buttons on it. "Lock" "Unlock" The chrome handle. The small tab right in front of the window that signified whether it was locked or not… the arm rest. It was all so strange.

"I still can't believe you've never even been in a car, Ranma!" Hiroshi exclaimed. It had come as a surprise to him to find Ranma so enthused.

"I… I've just… never seen one from the inside before…" She murmured, still sniffing out the odds and ends on the dashboard.

That wasn't entirely true. She thought she'd been in the Kuno Limo's trunk once. But she wasn't sure. Kodachi's drugs had made everything unusual then.

They had been driving for about ten minutes getting to the inner wards of Tokyo where the things couples did, were located. Hiroshi was aiming for a movie theatre but he wasn't certain if Ranma would like movies.

Did the girl even know what movies were? It's not like they'd spent time together after school very often, and when they did it was usually at the Tendo's. The place had been so much more interesting than _anything_ on television could ever have been that he couldn't help but prefer to spend his time with this friend there.

When she had been just a friend at least.

Honestly, when he'd first arrived at the door and seen his friend dressed in her red shirt and black pants, pigtail raised as it always was, he knew he would be fine. Ranma wasn't any different. Just being locked as a girl didn't make his friend _into_ a girl! And no matter how hard he tried, he could not see the girl as anything but the raven-haired martial arts obsessed man he had befriended a year or two gone.

At least, until the exact moment he saw her _without_ said pigtail.

In that very moment he was captivated by beauty such that he had never seen. Ranma was…_gorgeous. _Instantaneously, she had been transformed from a pitiable ex-male friend to the goddess so often described by a certain partially insane Kuno. Nabiki's pictures of the girl were nothing next to the beauty she could exude should she only wish it.

And Hiroshi found himself rapidly growing a true desire for her, while simultaneously wondering if Kuno had _seen_ the girl without her pigtail at some point. Because if he _hadn't_ and was as obsessed with the girl as she was now, if he ever actually _did_ his infatuation would probably turn to outright stalking the girl.

Fortunately, he wasn't so weak willed as Tatewaki Kuno. He, above almost anyone, knew Ranma's outlook on perverts. Honestly, the girl was a damn _prude,_ even when she'd been _both_ genders; a condition most likely due to Akane's influence. That sufficiently reigned in his hormones. But only the fact that, were he to make his attraction known, he wouldn't stand a chance with the girl…

It didn't stop his traitorous mind from placing her as the number one beauty on his 'girls I know' list, though.

He risked another look at the red-head and found her the girl bathing her face in his father's car's air-conditioner! Ha! Hiroshi strained to hold back laugh at the adorable picture of the small redhead, cooling herself affront the small vents.

What could he say? She was cute as hell, too! He sneakily put his hand down to the selection knob and turned it.

Air blasted into the smiling girl's face with the force of a slap and the girl spluttered, blown back by the freezing air, punctuated with a sharp, "Hey!" between coughs.

Hiroshi laughed.

After a bit of actual coughing ensued more by surprise than the actual air, Ranma glared at the laughing boy. She tried to hold a bit of the foul gaze on him but his laugh was contagious and soon she joined him.

"I'll get you back for that." She said after the laughing died down, as they were still driving through Tokyo.

He just shook his head, chuckling to himself. "I bet."

It was a few minutes of comfortable silence that past, while the radio droned out some song by some band called _Ushimitsudoki Hakka_.

"So, uhm… what are we doing?" Ranma asked speculatively. "I… I don't think I've ever actually been on a _real_ date before. You know… without spying fiancées or being forced into it or whatever…"

Hiroshi raised his eyebrow but didn't say anything. Was he getting in over his head?

Nah. They wouldn't come after him. The engagements were dissolved now…

Right?

A chill crawled up the boy's back but he disregarded it. Ranma was the best of them. Worst case scenario he'd be protected.

He hoped.

"Well, classical dates are usually dinner and a movie. Sound good?" He asked, his tone cheerful and upbeat.

The girl smiled in that strangely shy way that she had developed recently and nodded.

Hiroshi's heart boiled. The engine revved a bit but he didn't hear it over the pounding beats in his chest, echoing in his ears.

* * *

A Diamond shaped visage hung in the space, a background of pure black held behind it. Millions upon millions of stars blinked in it's tranquil backdrop as it hovered hundreds of miles above the atmosphere of earth. Golden in color, the vessel glimmered, it's outer covering powering the core through solar power. 

Mai grinned, her long hair swaying as she stared out from the golden glass sheen of window keeping her from her new promised kingdom. It seemed small… unworthy to the uneducated eye, but there was power held within this system.

Power held within this planet the likes of which had not been seen for over twenty millennia.

But now she remembered. She remembered the traitor. Remembered being sealed in that vile prison for an eternity; the screams, the pain, the torment she felt as she'd slowly forgotten all, except for the burning desire for revenge.

"_First child to keep,_  
_Eversilver sleep,_  
_The father who held,_  
_The mother to weep._

_Last child to seal,_  
_E'er gold bastille,_  
_The father who held,_  
_Till reborn beau ideal."_

Now she knew. Now she knew. The Dark King. her master, her lover, her husband, had told her the story. And now she stood at his side, prepared to reclaim their rights to their thrones.

She snapped her attention away from her musing back to the ship Tai had told her to pilot. She had to focus.

A loud mechanical voice echoed throughout the bridge of the ship. "Approximate Population. Six Point Oh Nine Billion."

Lights flashed about on terminals as far as the eye could see. As far as a _mortal_ eye could see. Her eyes could see the multiplying germs atop the old panels. If she wished to at least. Easily they could see the end of the bridge a mile or so down.

"Rubos." Tai's booming voice echoed throughout the room, like the low thrum of fire burning an entire planet to ashes. Mai shivered with barely contained ecstasy, but she tried to focus on guiding the ship, and keeping her emotions under control Her husband was harsh if she let her thoughts linger too long on her coveted vengeance.

The servant was there before they could blink, kneeling before Tai, as he had always done. Their steadfast servant, Rubos. Now he too remembered.

"Yes, my lord." The servant bowed lower, accepting any command Tai would give before even needing to be asked. Such was the way of his service. Such was his loyalty.

Tai tapped his fingers on the control panel, his armor clinking and denting the Emperian plating. "How do you find a princess… when she could be any girl in an entire population of six billion, Rubos?" His tone held a lilt that guaranteed he knew the answer already.

Rubos did too. "At once, my king."

Mai didn't understand. "T-Taimaat-sama… what... if I may, wh-what—?" She leaned forward hoping her husband would indulge her. She dared not expect anything, though. T'was not a woman's place to question the motives of her husband.

"Concentrate on the ship, Mairis. You will know if _'I'_ feel you need to." The man boomed.

Mai gulped, even as shivers of excitement ran down her spine. "Y-yes my husband. Please forgive me." She bowed her head, shamefully for a moment before returning her eyes promptly to the task of setting them into the small planet's orbit.

She winced from a particularly strong spasm in her abdomen, just below her right breast, recognizing his touch on her. She looked across the room to the captain's seat at the back of the bridge and gulped. The excitement was gone now. He was angry.

A brief moment she spared her ribcage a glance and found blood leaking through. Shocked, she _bolted_ her eyes on the terminal.

He would not want her looking upon his work. If he wanted her to bleed that was his wish.

She was his.

'Taimaat… it hurts…' She breathed in her mind, and instantly felt a burning sensation grow from where the blood had begun to flow.

She didn't stop bleeding for hours. She didn't stop working either.

* * *

Ranma sat nervously in the seat next to her… her date, and tried to focus on the movie. 

Unfortunately the movie was terrible. These fake martial artists were so pathetic it wasn't even funny. Sure, to normal people it would be mildly impressive but it was so often that Ranma forgot how unusual and rare super powered martial artists like himself were.

And who names their kid 'Jet' anyway?

Due to the sheer weakness of the movie, while it had been quite a bit better looking than the other selections, she found herself letting her mind drift to her shrink of all people.

Aiko… Aiko was unusual. Her methods were completely the opposite of any shrink she'd ever heard of. But there was something different about her. She was funny, happy, and when she was with her in that office, she felt like she could talk about anything.

Like she could trust the other girl with anything.

It scared her, how easily the woman had gotten past all her defenses and burned straight to the core of her, convincing her to confess things that she'd never told anyone.

But now that she had, she felt better every time she thought about the blonde woman.

Wait. Blonde? Aiko's hair was black. As black as it came. So why had she…?

Even as she thought, the image of Aiko Mizuruna came to mind. Pale white skin, and short black hair. Business suit and those strange blue eyes that seemed made to see directly through her patients.

Somehow, though, she felt… feigned by the woman. As if it was all just a mask. Hiding her true self. There was a certain depression behind her voice that she was very good at hiding.

"Ranma…?" Came a hushed question from Hiroshi.

She jerked her attention to him. She was here on a date with him and there she was thinking about a girl!

'Jeez I sure am a jerk.' She thought, realizing that she'd done that several times before to many of the girls in her life.

"Y-yeah?" She replied, coming back to herself.

"What's on your mind? Obviously not the movie." He said, piercing Ranma yet again.

She felt ashamed but couldn't do anything about it. "Was it that easy to tell?" She asked, whispering so as not to disturb anyone else, even though the theatre wasn't too full.

Hiroshi smirked. "Well… no offence… you fight better than these jokes ever could… this is a little lame, ain't it?"

Ranma giggled. "Kinda… sorry, Hiro."

He grinned. "Come on. Lets go enter you in some back alley martial arts competition and rake it in… or dinner?"

Ranma had to cover her face with a hand to keep from snorting. His first idea _would_ probably be more entertaining, though. "I, ah… Diner." She floundered as she stood, him following.

They left the theatre, mildly annoyed, Ranma due to the weakness of the actual fight scenes and Hiroshi due to the fact that he would never be able to watch a fight movie again without comparing it to Ranma's own prowess.

And finding the movie falling short every time.

They got to the car, after walking through a proverbial herd of strange stares from various 'behind the counter' workers at the theatre. No one walked out of a Jet Li movie! Or at least no one had that they knew of. So, seeing the two leaving early, disappointment clearly written all over the couple's faces, surprised the workers to no end.

Hiroshi leaned on the end of the vehicle and gave her a strong look. "Well. I had an idea in mind for where we could go. But if you have any preferences."

Ranma shook her head and waved nonchalantly. "Nah. I'm good."

The boy nodded and opened the door. This date was not nearly as good as he'd hoped it might've been but he really wasn't expecting anything. Truly it was his fault too. Or Ranma's mother's fault.

The second he saw her with her hair down, he couldn't help it. How could anyone possibly _not_ want to try for such beauty?

And he knew that was exactly why he was striking out. 'Damn hormones,' He thought.

He sat down when suddenly the passenger window imploded.

Glass sliced all over the boy and he flew out of the still open door, screaming.

Ranma only had a moment to react. She twisted like a flash and caught the aggressor in the blink of an eye and slammed against the car's window bursting it open into the car, the cause of Hiroshi's glass shower. She winced but held firm, both hands gripping… paws?

A putrid stink intoxicated her nose as she looked up and found herself staring into the maw of a dog; a gigantic hound. Sharp jagged teeth and blood red eyes. Fur blue as the night sky and a row of teeth held by a face more crazed than any she had ever seen pinned her to the side of the car.

The jaw snapped at her but missed biting her nose clean of by a nail's width.

"Wh-What the hell!?" She exclaimed. She pushed with all her might but found that the dog was winning! It was… it was _stronger! _Stronger than _her!_

She grit her own teeth and set her jaw. "No way…" The words came out a growl.

Her aura burst around her blasting through her arms and into her strengthened hands blasting the crazed dog away, flying into the tree she now realized it had jumped from to attack her.

It collided with the tree and landed in a heap but made its way back to its feet, its demonic eyes narrowed on her.

"Wh-who the hell are you!?" Ranma screamed, dropping into a stance.

"R-Ranma! Ranma! I c… I can't see!" Came a male scream from the other side of the car.

Rage enveloped the redhead. All the chances with Akane. All the interrupted dates. All the love plots and marriage plots. Not again. This would _never_ happen again! She blasted forward hands glowing in unhindered anger. "Dammit! Can't I just have one date!?"

The redhead leapt into the air, dive bombing the creature fist first, pent up rage forming in her fist.

Without warning, it burst into flame and leapt to meet her, catching the midair girl completely off guard.

A burning claw the size of a basketball raked through her chest, sending her and the dog both flying the other way. Shock coalesced in Ranma's eyes as her back hit the ground. Five claws impaled her chest, and the beast stood atop her, staring down at her face.

Blood began to pool in her mouth. She felt no fear though. She looked down and saw blood, soaking her red shirt completely, the inch long claws sinking into five points on her chest.

She tried to speak, but nothing came forth. Her throat gurgled. The demonic hound's eyes stared down at her piercing her soul as she desperately tried to breathe.

'I'm dying… All this… and I'm being killed by a… by a…'

The claws suddenly pulled out and she screamed. Tried to scream, her back arching into the air as the claws failed to dislodged themselves from her body.

It raked more skin pulling itself free and she slumped back to the ground with a hollow thud.

The burning beast did not move. One bloody paw in the air, it stared down at her, a lion examining its caught prey.

"Why…?" She choked out, blood spewing from her mouth, incinerating in the hound's burning face.

'I won't die like this. God… don't let me die like this.' She pleaded. Her heart was trying to beat. Lungs filling with blood.

"Ranma!" A shout echoed across her ear but she paid it no heed. No help for the helpless. She could get out of this.

'It was _so fast_…!' She moaned, trying to keep her mind thinking with the fiery jaw breathing soot and putrid death into her nose. Trying to keep from despairing.

She'd never been taken down so easily. Not for years.

'Soul of Ice…' She thought, and it came. Faster than ever before the ice calmed her. The ground she laid on froze in an instant. 'The fire…. That's it… I can…"

"Get off him freak!_ Aoide Blastone Rhapsody!" _

'Akane?' Ranma though. 'I-it can't be...'

The hound jerked as if punched from the side but held firm, not moving an inch. It's head jerked away staring and growling above Ranma and to her left.

'Now's my chance…!'

She begged her body not to give out. Her lungs were on fire and her throat was screaming. She needed air!

"_Hiryuu…."_

The ice beneath her began to thicken. Blue lightened to a pale silver as the ground beneath her became slick. The hound winced, the fire on its paws flickering as it touched the icy floor but it refused to move, turning its attention back to her.

"Dammit! _Aoide Blastone Rhapsody!" _

Again the fire hound lurched. Again it remained firm, this time not even sparing the attacker a glance.

'Is it you… Akane…?'

"Apollo!! Don't I have anything stronger!?"

"_Gyoten…"_

The ice beneath her was evaporating on the dogs fire, floating higher into the air. She felt the air above her begin to rotate. Her back was freezing! Her lungs! God her lungs!

"Oh shit!" Came the Akane impersonator's voice followed by frantic scampering.

Ranma saw right above her for a brief moment as the burning hound turned its attention to her for one moment. Saw the blue and red swirling dragon of light she was creating and smiled a bloody lipped victory grin.

'Eat this… bastard!'

"_HA!"_

The dragon tornado rocketed down towards the icy circle.

It was only an instant but Ranma knew she had won. The hound's eyes widened in terror and it yelped like a puppy for the sparse seconds before the dragon of thrashing air ripped the beast to shreds blood flying across the pavement, flares and burning body parts rocketing through cars and blasting through street signs.

"G-Got…" Ranma gurgled.

Darkness was fading in. A face flashed in front of her for a few moments. What? She felt pressure inside her mouth. A rod? She gurgled more, choking on the blood. Something was getting rid of it…

Lips touched her mouth. Air! _Air!_

She could…! She…

And darkness took her again. She lay fallen, her body caressed on iced frozen concrete.

Concrete that shimmered a crystalline silver bed in the shape of a crescent moon.

* * *

A soft knock resounded about the house Saturday morning, alerting Saeko Mizuno to someone's presence at the door. She rose, dismally as she did everything these days. Her life seemed like it was over, and had been for months. 

Her daughter. Her only daughter. One of the Senshi…

It would have been amazing if it hadn't cost her little genius her life. And now, it seemed like it was costing her her own life. She had taken leave from work for months now and she simply could not make herself feel any better.

She couldn't help but blame those girls she'd befriended. And now, the last one, the one who _survived_ so her little girl could _die,_ was nowhere to be found.

Even anger seemed pointless. There was nothing to rage at. No one left alive to blame.

She opened the door to find a middle aged woman there. Great… another sales woman or something. Or worse… a well wisher…

"Mizuno-san…"

That tone… seemed familiar. Very familiar. "Yes… may I help you, ma'am?" She asked politely, while thinking 'I don't give a damn.'

"I… have something to tell you…"

Saeko Mizuno gasped in fright as the woman's skin began to melt away, along with her height. Her hair began to change color from the black short crop into a brilliant blonde. Her skin changed from the darker pale of a middle aged woman to that of a teenage girl, pale and freckled, eyes blue as the sky.

"Oh my god… It's… it's you…"

Sailor Moon nodded as tears began to trail her cheeks. "I'm… _so…_ sorry…" She breathed, as the woman who was one of her best friends' parents stared in shock. "But I… I had to see you. T-To tell you what happened… and to hope one day you'll be able to forgive me…"

The woman just stared, her jaw gaping.

* * *

"Happosai." 

"Ku Lon."

The old woman sighed abysmally as Happosai appeared in her uppermost room in the Nekohaunten.

"It's getting closer, Ku Lon. Can you feel it?" The aged pervert asked in a kindly, almost youthful voice.

"Yes. Yes I can." The similarly aged woman replied. Her own voice scratchy and elderly.

Happosai grinned. "You always were _old._" It was an age old joke, but Happosai never grew tired of it. Especially since she always had a newer, more witty comeback every time.

"Puns on my age. How very childish." The older woman said in an ugly voice, knowing it to be a pun on his own… well… not age. Position more like. Not a very good one either. She was _too_ old. She suddenly began coughing uproariously and Happosai's smirk dimmed.

"You're dying. You're dying again. Why?" The old man asked, as concern and even a tear or two welled up in his eyes.

Ku Lon smiled. Happi could always be such a child. It made sense, of course. He would always be a child at heart, and in body. His disguise was quite convenient, making him age together with her, and had been for the past seven hundred years or so, ever since they had first felt the cosmos begin to stir.

Rebirth had been alive for the past three hundred years. They could feel it. And now Time herself was awakening. It had taken the girl long enough! Poor Liopolis…

"You know why better than anyone Happosai. It's my time. I'm not immortal like you. But don't worry. I'll be back. I always come back. Rebirth makes sure I return as soon as I can." She told the short man.

He stroked her temple soothingly and then left, only to return a few moments later with a damp washcloth. He placed it over her forehead and she sighed, against her will, at the comfort it provided.

Happosai could be so... kind at times. If he just wasn't so childish…

She knew her disguise would lift off him when she died. And then he would return to his true form. The fourteen year old boy he was perpetually cursed and blessed to be.

She somewhat envied him for that, but then, eternal life could grow monotonous. At least she got breaks every now and then. She did _not _envy her husband nearly as much as she once had.

"Thank you dear." She sighed. An abysmal though crossed her mind. "What will I tell Shampoo?" She asked drearily.

"She'll understand. She's one of them you know. From this side. Not ours. She and that strange boy she's been traipsing about with. The one with the motorcycle? So don't worry. She'll still be around when you come back."

Ku Lon smiled. Her own granddaughter. A Senshi from this side. What would the cosmos think up next? So many parallels…

"Have you found—" She broke off and began coughing again but Happosai was their, his small arm grasped around her, hand resting on the small of her back.

He was so sweet.

When she stopped she looked to him questioningly, expecting him to know what she was about to ask. He nodded. "Yes. All of them are waking up. Circe and Apollo arrived here three weeks ago. They found Aoide and Meneloth. They're still looking for Astraea, but they'll find her quickly, too. If they don't I will lead them to her."

Ku Lon contemplated for a moment. She was still terrified of such power as Aoide's in the hands of Akane Tendo but she supposed the girl _was_ a good person at heart. Good for the position now that her temper had quieted a bit.

She hoped.

For some reason she doubted Meneloth would be around much longer, though. But then, Aoide had always wanted to get rid of Meneloth.

"They must. They are almost here. I can feel them. The Dark King. They must be able to defend the princess till she wakes, lest both kingdoms be—!"

"Stop it, Thry-chan." Happosai said firmly. "You're time is coming. I'll take care of things till you return, so don't let your death be ruined by worry. He was beaten before. Don't worry."

Ku Lon would have none of it. Plus, she hated that pet name! "If he gets here before we find her then—!"

"I've found her, Thry. I've already found her." Happosai said with a grin.

"What!? Who!? We know it isn't that girl who calls herself Sailor Moon. She's from _this_ side! Who!?" Ku Lon had forgotten her sickness. This was _wonderful_! She'd been found!

Yes…

Now she could die in peace.

"Who… Who is she, Mapon?" She asked the aged looking man.

"You'll know in five years…" He said with a smirk.

She glowered but was held back by another coughing fit. "Happi! You'll tell me, or I won't lift the age when I die!"

The old man's smile only widened. "Ah well, I lived hundreds of years as an old man… I think I can handle five more. You surely won't keep me old when you look fresh and young again, will you Thryope?"

Ku Lon could do nothing. Her threat held no ground. And she sighed. "If there still is a world worth being born back into in five years… But I trust you, Mapon. Guide her well."

Happosai brushed a stray hair from the woman's eyes as he sat down in the bed next to her. "She's in good hands,Thry-chan. I promise."

The young man in the old man's body hoped she would forgive him for lying. He _had_ to find her! The world rested on it…

* * *

"It-It's alright. It's alright. You poor girl…" Saeko cooed to the weeping blonde in her arms. 

"I… I…" The blonde tried to put words to her heartache but there was nothing. No words to sooth the pain her friend's deaths would always leave within her.

"—_hat's the weather! I'm Avoki Atsuke. Thanks for watching!" _The words came filtering in from the television in the other room.

"I forgive you… It's not your fault! You did all you could…" Saeko gripped the weeping girl tighter, failing miserably to hold back her own tears.

"I did nothing! I… I… I'm worthless… I…"

"—_oung girl by the name of Ranma Saotome was attacked and almost killed this afternoon by what seems to be a Senshi!"_

Moon eyes snapped open. "R-Ranma!"

"U-Usagi?" Saeko eased her grip on the still weeping girl.

The girl dashed out of the grasp in an instant dashing to find the source of the words. "Ranma! Wh-What happened?"

The television was easy to find and on it, she saw a boy. Not a boy. _The_ boy. The date. "No…" She shook her head in self hatred and denial.

"_Y-Yeah. We were o-on a date… I was in the car when she just got thrown in to the window! Gl-glass hit me everywhere… I thought I was blind, but after a while I g-got it all out and… I saw… A black Senshi… L-like Sailor Moon, but… black, instead of white. She- she was beating her! Beating her chest! There was… was blood everywhere… I… I've… never been so afraid in my life…"_

"Oh god… Oh god no… no not…" Moon gasped, covering her hands with her mouth, eyes wider than planets.

"_The scene was one of the most gruesome things I've ever seen." _The reporter said, screen returning to face him. _"I don't think I've ever seen so much blood. The girl, Ranma, has five holes in her chest… She's alive… somehow… but that's all the information the hospital is allowing us. Whoever did this… this Black Senshi, is a sick lunatic… For my sake, for all our sakes… I hope Sailor Moon is still out there…"_

Moon's guilt welled in her throat like a whole pumpkin stuck in it. Guilt and determination. "…I'm still out here…"

"U-Usagi…" Came Ami's mother's voice from behind her.

"I have to go…" The Senshi clenched her fist. "I… I have to go."

And she vanished.

Running towards the hospital faster than planes could fly, Sailor Moon's eyes were no longer wet. They were hard. They were hard as the crystal broach on her chest.

"_NEVER Again...!"_

"Whoever did this to you Ranma… I'll kill her…"

The blonde dashed on, oblivious to the excited looks of people who watched. "I'll kill her…"

* * *

End Chapter

* * *

Dun Dun DUUU! The plot thickens… 

And that's a wrap. So… getting better yet? I TOLD you this would be a good story. And now we have plot.

Uber plot.

Might be a bit clunky but I'm damn proud of that final scene, and the fight scene hit me pretty good too.

**I hope you read, leave a review, and most importantly **_**enjoy!**_

**Have a Merry Christmas everyone!**

_**Good News! Next in Que: The Anarchists: Chapter Two! (I hope)**_

_**Also Good News! Writer's Block: Mark in the Lace Cured!**_

(Sidenote: I have a strange idea for a very unusual oneshot crossover that might come out before this stuff. Just letting ya know. And Secret Stolen Smiles is also being worked on periodically.)

**Now bring me some figgy pudding and a happy review year!!**

**Till Next!**

**MB **_**  
**_


	5. Sides

**.Disclaimer****: Don't Own Ranma ½ or Sailor Moon.**

* * *

**-Chapter Four-**  
**-Sides-**

* * *

Stewardess Alsabette Thorolisan the Twenty Sixth was no fool. She, like her mother before her, and her mother before her and so on, had never been a fool. For centuries they had remained at their post. Ruling as advocates of the peace and prosperity that had been granted to them by their late Queen. 

Till that long awaited day when she returned…

And now she wept. Woe to her that the end of her line's millennia after millennia of rule should fall upon her shoulders. And woe more that the despair and torment of old would come again; she hoped against hope it did not.

"Mengleth! Thy council I seek!" She exclaimed, demanding the attention of the maid who had been there for her, helping her, teaching her, guiding her since she was but a babe. T'was Mengleth, and not her mother, who she looked to for advice. T'was Mengleth who held her when she was sick, and cared for her like no other.

"Council, I give, High Stewardess." Strange, those words, from the soft and caring old woman. Once she had screamed at her, calling her simply Alsa, and no more. Teaching her excited childish form and honing it, honing_her_. Disciplining her into the woman she had become today. Even now, years after her mother had passed and she had ascended to the throne, she still felt like the child Alsa whenever the old woman was in her presence. It was… comforting.

"The words I give to your ears, are for them and them alone. Should I find that these words have been uttered by another, I will have your ears removed. Does my voice ring clear, Mengleth?" Comforted she may be, but she was the High Stewardess, and had been for the past seventeen years. Things were much safer now, but she knew her time as ruler was drawing to a close. She knew the Thorolisan line would fall from power with her. She'd had sixteen years to get used to that fact, when the Crystal had disappeared not a year into her reign.

A secret that had been kept from the people all this time… A secret she was now about to divulge for the first time in the nigh two decades since she had first ascended. The Queen was alive somewhere. Her coming of age had come and gone. And now, the stewardess felt fear…

The old woman nodded her acceptance of the stewardess's terms with graceful certainty. It shouldn't have relieved Alsabette but it did.

"Mengleth…. Nana… Does the Golden Crystal upon the hearth still rest?" A common greeting. A casual one. For a commoner no less. Mengleth showed her confusion in her reply.

"May it forever remain till the day the Queen is born again. But… Understand, I do not. Why ask you?" She didn't understand why the stewardess would bring that up now. It made no sense. The Golden Crystal _always_ rested upon the hearth. It had for… for… millennia! Long before the old maid had even been born; that was certain.

"Tis lies, you speak, dear maid. Though, know you not, till now. Some sixteen years and four moons whence the Kinsuishou disappeared. The Queen is born. Of age, she has been for four moons." The high stewardess buried her forehead in her hand, wiping sweat from her brow, trying to hold back the tears threatening to burst forth once more.

The maid gasped like she'd been sentenced to death. _Anyone_ would! Th-the Queen! The honest to goodness _Queen_, had been born!? After all this time… Bloodfire! Unbelievable! "M-My stewardess, what… what plans have you?" She asked, after the time it took for her to recover from such a revelation.

The woman seemed torn as she formulated her answer. Finally she lifted her brow. "Sixteen years, now I have known. Sixteen years. Thorolisan's days are numbered. That those numbers should end with me… was I not a good ruler!? Did we not do as she commanded!? Aurica's prosperity spawned from her, yes! That is as may be, but was it not Thorolisan, who nurtured her? Brought forth the fruits the Queen sowed!? And now… now shall I… shall _we_ be expected to… to… forfeit all I and my mothers have protected, to some, some… _child?_" She was ranting now. A decade and again she had dreamed of ranting but she had had no one.

"N-No… no, high stewardess. But… surely she is a benevolent Queen? Surely she would see how well your foremothers have done in her stead?" The maid was grasping at straws. Never, since the girl had worn her hair braided as a girl, had she seen the stewardess in such distress. Even as a girl, rare it had been. She had been a sturdy one. Like her mother.

It took time; the woman was breathing fast now. Her eyes were bloodshot and her face glistening with tears, but she did managed to cool herself.

"More you must know." Alsabette nodded to herself. Her story was not done. "More, did the Crystal do, then remain upon the hearth till new bearer did awaken. You know this. The darkness it kept at bay was no mere scourge."

Mengleth could do little but stare in awe as a story she had always known was spun anew. Spun again.

"The Crystal, for as long as it has rested on the hearth, has been as a prison. Long, long, ever so long has it caged a blackness darker than the deepest pitch. And for sixteen years and four moons… that darkness has been free." Alsabette told her maid. Tears leaking from her eyes.

"H-High stewardess?" The maid croaked. The stewardess appeared to be breaking down again. Tears were gushing from her eyes but she held back sobs. Somehow… "Alsa…?" The maid ventured fearfully, hoping it would calm her.

The Dark King was free! T-Tai… Taimaat? Was… _free?! Burning Bloodfire!_

If the maid's words, sparse as they were, did have any calming effect, Alsabette Thorolisan the Twenty Sixth did not show it. "A-Am I… Am I evil, Mengleth? Naught but revenge on the Queen, does the darkness seek..." She sniffed loudly, her body wracked with sobs that she refused to let take complete control of her. "O-our Queen, who freed our people so long ago from his grip. Am I evil that I, too, wish her dead?"

The maid didn't know how to respond… couldn't know how to respond. Her high stewardess… the highest of the high in the entire kingdom… the most powerful person in all the system, save only for the long awaited Queen, had just betrayed everything her childhood had ever taught her. She'd condemned the promised Queen, whom all of Aurica had awaited for more than twenty millennia, to death, once more.

The poor old maid feared for her ears…

* * *

A white room surrounded a slowly recovering red-head. Wires connected to her in more places then she knew she had; she couldn't move. 

"Wh-where…?" Was the only word she could pull out of her dry throat.

No one was there, but Ranma was familiar enough with doctors' emergency rooms to know that this definitely was one. White walls surrounded a perfectly cubical room of three by four meter proportions. A heart monitor on her left read her the rate at which her own heart was beating. Two hundred and forty. The alarm was blaring, obviously the thing that had awoken her.

"Wh-what's going…"

"By god...!" Someone gasped from the doorway as it opened. "Sh-she's awake! D-doctor! Someone call the god damn doctor!"

The woman, Ranma thought she was a woman but her vision was so blurry she couldn't tell, dashed to the bedside and began fiddling with instruments and tools that Ranma had no clue about. She placed a stethoscope against Ranma's heart and then she gasped again.

Ranma could do nothing about the close proximity to her breasts at which the stethoscope had been placed. Couldn't even tell it _was _a stethoscope. Damn pervert! She could only follow blurry outline of the woman, with her eyes. What was her problem? And could she shut off that damn alarm? The redhead felt so bleary that she really had no idea what was going on, and if someone were telling her, she didn't think she would understand.

She wiggled and her body complied. Stretching. The alarm still blaring in her ears she yawned, and dropped back to the bed breathing miles a minute at the difficulty it took to even make that small move.

'Why isn't my body moving…? Something is wrong…' Thought her befuddled mind.

Another person, a man she thought, middle aged and Caucasian with sandy blonde hair and a white lab coat walked into the room at a speedy pace and fell into place beside the woman staring down at her, while simultaneously pulling latex gloves onto his hands.

The man moved forward towards the screen examining it. "That's not possible… get another machine! She couldn't even be alive, let alone awake with a heart rate like that."

"_Listen!_" The frantic nurse screamed, pulling the stethoscope off her ears, handing it to the calm doctor.

Of course, the woman was frantic. The girl was awake and acting like she barely felt that her heart was moving faster than almost triple the normal beat rate. Add to that, her lung problem that she was also miraculously surviving.

"By god…!" The young doctor exclaimed, when Ranma felt the cold touch of metal on her heart again.

"That's what I said!" The nurse jumped on him. "This girl is… is… superhuman or something! It shouldn't be possible!" The alarm was getting louder if that was possible. "Her heart rate is _still_ increasing!"

Ranma vaguely registered the words, her eyes half lidded as she attempted to wake herself up. She lifted her hand, and found it to be akin to lifting a ten ton rock. "What's… going on…?"

The doctor seemed to know what he was doing. He grabbed the girl's hair and pulled back her head forcing her eyes open and staring directly down into them. "Ranma? Is that your name? Ranma? Can you hear me?" The doctor asked straight to her.

Ranma nodded. She barely felt the tugging at her forehead. Why did her chest hurt so much!? That metal thing was _really_ cold.

The man accepted it. "Ranma. Alright. Your heart is beating too fast. Faster than I would believe possible. We _have _to slow it down. Do you understand?"

Ranma nodded again._That's _why her chest was burning. "Make… make it stop… It hurts…" Her whole body hurt, as awareness finally began to seep back into her, and with that pain, unlike that which she had ever felt. Her chest felt like it had taken a direct dose of Akane's spicy Okonomiyaki. Her back, burned with the pain of laying on the bed. She could feel scabs and burns all over it, but all of them dimmed in comparison with her heart.

"Okay. Start her on the IV's. We gotta get that heart rate down." Still calm. Ranma liked this doctor. He reminded her of Tofu. She grit her teeth as the pain tripled suddenly and thoughts of doctors fled her mind. Thought's completely fled her mind.

She howled, as if the angel of pain himself were holding a scythe to her brain.

"Put her out. We've got no choice."

Ranma didn't feel anything save for the burning in her chest. Didn't feel the pinprick in her arm. Her eyes glazed over, seeing nothing as she arched her back in agony, screaming.

And then, as fast as it had come, her eyes fell closed, and consciousness left her.

* * *

"It shouldn't be possible." Doctor Aaron Davis, an American though not new to the Minato Ward Service Hospital, said. His calm voice reflecting his demeanor in perfect harmony. "She should be dead. She should have been dead almost instantly, when… whatever attacked her put those holes in her chest. One punctured a lung. One the left lower chamber of her heart, though it wasn't as bad. The other three missed anything vital, hitting only unimportant veins that can grow back in a week or so but still…" 

The girl standing there, black hair cropped, wearing a sturdy business suit, did not appear calm at all. "She, she'll be alright though!?" She practically screamed disrupting the rapt attention the others had previously been giving the doctor. "If… I… I couldn't bear it if…"

The doctor sighed, pushing down the immense attraction he felt for the dark haired beauty with the ease of practice, and the practice of indifference. He hated giving the bad news. It was _never_ fun. "I've… never seen anything like her before. If she does… it will be a miracle. I'm sorry. She's alive now… but bleeding in the lungs is… lethal. As far as we can see, her right lung has taken up the job of both lungs… As if she's adapting… maybe even evolving or something. I don't know. All I know is that what she's done, what she is doing, should be impossible."

Aiko didn't know what to do. Ranma… Ranma. The first person truly hurt since her campaign had begun once more. The girl was innocent, if strong. This had nothing to do with her so why…? Why her…

Had it only been a week ago that she had first met the redhead of unparalleled beauty; only a week since she'd met the man locked inside a goddess, hidden by dirty clothes and a sad smile?

And now there she lay.

The redhead was silent now, still, resting a in a picturesque luminescence, marred only by the patients robe she wore. The scene caressed her, sunset of late Saturday afternoon filtering in through the window and magnified through the glass door which Aiko looked upon her from beyond. If not for the fact that she knew the girl was dying, nothing would have seemed out of the ordinary at all.

That would not be true looking down on her. The robe which covered her had red bloodstains in the five places where the holes in her chest and upper abdomen resided. One of the holes had punctured her right breast as well. When Aiko tried to imagine the pain her charge must have endured to feel a… a… _something_ digging a hole into her skin like that… It made her shiver in unashamed fear.

'Ranma… how are you so strong? How are you still alive?' She thought, recalling what the five puddles of blood pooling in her chest had looked like for the brief hour she'd been allowed to visit, before the doctor had shooed her to check the girl again.

Hours she'd been at this hospital. She'd met Hiroshi and also seen Ranma's parents. They were exactly as the girl had described them. A large man, with a deceptively muscular frame in a white dogi, backed by a small woman in formal Kimono, wearing a ceremonial katana at her side. The woman was shorter than her, though she would be taller if Aiko returned to her normal body, and she held a face was the splitting image of Ranma's; the only difference was that her hair had darkened with age, fading to a deep auburnish amber.

She did not introduce herself. _Couldn't_ introduce herself. There were _many_ people here. Many. Too many to have _possibly_ all known Ranma's family by name. Boys, hundreds of them, though that might have been exaggerating some, friends of the gender storied girl, here to wish her well. If possible there were even more girls. A lavender haired girl of beauty that damn near matched Ranma's if in a more… forward way, was recognized by the disguised Senshi. 'That must be Xian Pu.' Aiko thought, when she first saw the girl.

'And Ukyo.' Her thoughts continued as her eyes wandered across a girl dressed primarily in boys' clothing. Tears were dripping down her eyes, but she was forcing herself to keep an upbeat attitude. By selling Okonomiyaki of all things. So many well wishers needed food after all, and she knew she would be no help if she just sat there and cried.

Other people from Ranma's many stories did she recognize. The tall one with the bowl cut head of hair, bearing a mask of impassiveness on her face. Aiko could tell that even the second Tendo was being hard pressed to keep that mask on though.

Very hard pressed.

Another girl, slightly older, wearing a formal, perhaps overly formal dress, with long brown locks sat on one of the many benches bawling into a middle-aged man's arms. 'Kasumi and Soun.' Pinpointed Aiko.

And all that was just the tip of the iceberg. Many more characters were there. Some she knew from the stories, having such wild descriptions that she could easily pinpoint their names. Some vague, due to lack of heavy description on Ranma's part, or perhaps simple lack of memory on her own.

Regardless, the waiting room was full.

"She's so loved… It's amazing how many people there are here for her…" the psychologist murmured to herself in awe as she looked around. Hardly a dry eye in the room. 'She doesn't even seem to know… how much they all care.'

Aiko let her mind wander, her eyes following people as they mingled, their eyes warily glancing towards the glass room that held Ranma, as they dared the looks all of them feared could be their last towards the living form of their friend.

She found her eyes lingering on the lavender-haired Xian Pu once more. She tried to quell the jealousy towards the girl's inconceivable beauty, and succeeded dismally in the same way she did with Ranma. Her face began to heat but she quelled it. Now was _not_ the time for that sort of thing.

But then… she saw something. A brief flicker of… of something… on the girl's forehead, just as she turned away to speak to a tall man with short blonde hair.

As Aiko's eyes found the man she swooned pitifully, but quelled it even faster, as Mamoru's memory blasted through her mind. Guilt flooded through her, tears welling in her eyes once more as she turned away.

She allowed herself one final glance, knowing that love nor attraction were things she could afford herself any longer, and sighed as a tear trailed down her cheek.

"Ami… I bet you could do something… You're so smart, and your mom is a doctor… I bet you could… could…" She couldn't finish. The thought was too morbid.

And then her eyes caught something. This time it was certain. On the _boy's_ forehead.

A symbol.

The symbol of a Senshi.

Her jaw dropped as a name came subconsciously to fit the symbol she saw there. "Uranus…"

* * *

Aiga was not superstitious. Not in the least. But even _he_ could tell that_something_ was up when he awoke Saturday morning. He turned to his left at the downright gorgeous woman beside him and gave a soft smile. Five years he'd been trying to get her. Five _long _years. And now he had her. She gave a coo of delight as the light from the sun's pleasant rays slowly began to filter into the room. It was a soft light, neither painful nor burdensome. It gently coaxed them awake, as if merely offering the option of waking or continuing their comforting rest within each other's arms, if they wished. 

It had been truly a night to remember for a lifetime.

But… still… something nagged the Furinkan pervert. Why, now? Why tonight? After all this time, year after year of trying to coerce himself into her good graces, things which he never had been within, why had she suddenly allowed him into her bed?

It was… vexing. Nioma Nia, one of the most beautiful girl's in St. Hebereke School for Girls, was now his lover. One of the most straight and narrow girl's ever. And of all people she'd allowed _him_ take her virginity. He was certain. There had been too much blood for that to have been anything but her first time.

And that wasn't even the strangest part. He turned to his left, to the _other_ girl who had just become his lover last night. Nioma's best friend Sorinayuga Ak… Ak… Ak-something. He couldn't remember what her last name was. All he knew was that it was more difficult to remember then her first.

Aiga wasn't a nice person. He knew that himself, and accepted it. He wasn't nice, in that he would take advantage of girls. He _loved_ rebound girls, and adored making them his for the short time that they wanted him so he could move on to his next conquest.

But _this_… well… this was making his conscience ache. Badly. He knew for a fact that Nioma Nia was one of, if not the most dignified girl in St. Hebereke. She wanted to grow up. Get a good job. Have kids with the man she loved. A real _new era_ girl.

The type of girl who was an _'if you get her, fight to keep her with every shred of breath in your body'_ kind of girl. Not the type of girl you get into a threesome with her best friend with…Yes. Something was odd. Threesomes _very rarely_ involved virginity; two virginities was absolutely unheard of. He didn't know why but, for some reason, Aiga knew there was going to be some sort of cosmic backlash for this.

'It doesn't have_anything_ to do with that… that… _Tendo _person. No. It's just something weird these two. That's all.' He forcefully assured himself. It had _nothing_ to do with that Akane, nothing to do with that strange pen, and _definitely,_ nothing to do with being in a fuku.

"A-Aiga…?" Cooed the beautiful girl on Aiga's right. He turned his head to face her, her sporadic strewn hair flowing about her in wild, ruffled patterns and knots, all but screaming 'morning after.'

"Mmhmm beautiful?" He asked, avoiding her name. Mispronunciation of names was generally frowned upon when speaking to the person whose mind you blew the previous night.

But even he could see that _something_ was wrong. These girls were not the crazed nymphomaniacs they had become last night. Something had _happened_to them, but dammed if he knew what or who had done it to them.

"C-can you… do it again?" Sorinayuga begged in the sweetest, innocent look Aiga had ever seen.

Nioma chose that moment to open her eyes, catching her best friends question, and avidly agreeing. She stared into his eyes and nodded her acceptance of her friends wishes, indication that she did not wish to participate. Yet.

'Then again,' Aiga thought as he realized his conscience was being metaphorically stroked by the two girls on his right and left respectively. Along with other things, by at least two hands. 'Who gives a damn? Yum!' Was Aiga's last conscious thought before the two girls practically pounced on him.

* * *

Akane stared at her television in utter horror. Hiroshi… Hiroshi's had cleared his eyes and saw her hunched over Ranma breathing air into her lungs, and he'd screamed at her. He'd though she was trying to _kill_ Ranma! The idiot hadn't even seen the flaming hound! Hadn't seen the explosion of wrath Ranma had released from beneath it. 

He ran towards her, only _then_ growing the backbone he needed to help Ranma. Akane hadn't known what to do, but sirens began blaring almost before she could think, and she ran.

Ranma had fallen unconscious… there was nothing she could do.

Hiroshi landed on the girl immediately, and took over where she had left off, breathing for the blood drenched red-head.

And now… now her Senshi form was being called highly dangerous and lethal! It wasn't her fault! She'd been trying to _save_ Ranma! Not kill her!

'Heck of a lot of help I was…' Akane pouted in her mind, forgetting the presence of her cats.

"You did what you could. Your power hasn't matured yet, and if you use anything too powerful then you could destroy the entire city. That was the best you could have done." Circe jumped in on the sulking Tendo.

Akane felt angered that the cat though her so naïve as to believe there was _nothing_ she could have done. She _felt_ the power to destroy a planet there. She heard the planet's melody. All she'd have to do is sing along… But she did not react to Circe's prodding.

"Circe is right Akane. There is nothing you could have done." The black male cat patted the girl on the shoulder from his position on her bed, her sitting against it.

Akane glared, but that was all. She even had a magical power boost and she _still _was no closer to being better then Ranma. She'd always be in the red-head's shadow it seemed. There was _never_ anything she could have done. She _always_ did everything she could but… just couldn't quite get the job done. Not like Ranma.

Ranma the invincible defeats the evil hell dog… or phoenix… or dragon king… or… whatever! while on the brink of death. Akane damn Tendo sits watching on the sidelines, unable to do a damn thing. What else is new?

She would have returned words to the cat but thought better of it. If she strained herself relentlessly, pulling power through the dampener that was her civilian form, she could bring her voice back. But remembered how much her throat had _burned _after she'd finished talking to Aiga for that short time. No. She was still as mute as ever. Speaking more than a few words would cause her throat to burn as if someone was covering it with boiling wax.

"Don't glare at _me._ It's the truth. You did the best you could and I'll not have you wallowing in self pity. Chin up, lass." The black feline scolded.

Akane bitterly turned away purposefully turning her chin _down_ to stare into her hands. She was a failure… every damn time she tried to do _anything_ she failed. Again and again and again… she couldn't even love Ranma. No, she was too damn grounded in societies moral acceptances to let herself accept _that_.

Pulling desperately on her inner strength, allowing magic to flow into her throat she uttered the two words that accurately relieved a bit of her pain. "God dammit…"

With that, her power seeped away, leaving her throat. She felt it now when she put it there. Her throat was her power's focal point. When normal, it felt like a flute with all wholes pressed down so she had to push with all her might to make any sound come free. But when she transformed, the flute became a trumpet blaring with life and an expounding roar of power.

Obviously not _enough_ power.

Ranma had enough power._She_ didn't need any cheap power ups for _her_ fights. Akane remembered the terror she'd felt when the dog was hovering over her ex-fiancé. She'd thought the girl was about to be eaten alive… but no. Even on the brink of death, Ranma had a plan.

The Saotome prodigy made her feel pathetic without even trying.

The dragon of boiling and frozen air that began forming above them shocked Akane nearly out of her wits. Ranma's soul of ice, freezing the air around her, while the burning dog melted it into steam to make _yet another_ version of her Rising Dragon Accession Wave.

And now, her advantage. The new, amazing skill she'd been given was inaccessible. She was wanted on suspect for attempted murder! God… how could things get any worse? She'd hoped to try to protect Sailor Moon, but now it was doubtful the moon Senshi would even listen to her.

Heck, the girl would probably attack her! No. Things were _not_ looking up for the youngest Tendo. Not at all.

Dismally, got up. Visiting hours for Ranma were beginning soon. She wanted to be there today. She'd been so ashamed of how pathetically she failed yesterday that she hadn't been able to make herself find out if her ex-fiancé was alright.

But she wasn't a coward. She'd face her failures head on. That she promised herself. Ranma had given up so much to make sure she lived at Mount Phoenix, that she owed it to her to be there for her. That was all she could do.

* * *

Aiga walked with an arrogant stride. Something was _definitely_ wrong. And he _liked_ wrong. Oooh, did he like it. He was currently walking through a mall. Not all that interesting, most would think, and normally they would be right. But today, oh today! Today was a day that would go down in infamy! 

His arms rested on the shoulders of Nioma and Sorinayuga on his right and left respectively. Behind him, following him, though they thought they were being secretive about it, were four more girls. One hundred percent of their attention was on him.

As he walked, people gawked at him, based on gender for differing reasons. Boys or old folks would gawk at the crowd he seemed to be attracting in curious mirth, or jealousy. Girls would gawk _at_ him! At _him_!

He turned and looked at a particularly beautiful girl on a staircase that led to second level, on her way down, who was trying to find out what the commotion was. The affects of this action were apparent and instantaneous. Without a second thought the girl braced herself on the banister, her knees giving way as she made eye contact with him. He burst into a winning grin and the girl actually tripped and fell a step!

Oh god he _loved_this!

'Ah… Women are_finally _noticing my natural sexiness!' The arrogant boy thought laughingly. This girl, whoever she was, was even more beautiful than Nioma!

He lifted his hands almost with grief, from the shoulders of the two girls he'd bedded the night before; he set them in their natural place at his sides. "Sorry ladies… I need to be going now, but your company was exquisite! I hope to do this again some time very soon!"

"Y-you've got my number… Right… Aiga?" Nioma asked, shyly. _Shyly! Nioma!_

…

_SHYLY!_

This was the same girl who'd snorted at his advance and told him to go sleep with a cow not more than a week ago!

Yeah… he was _just that good!_

"Of course! Nioma! I've had your phone number for ages. I call you all the time! You told me, in no uncertain terms, to fuck off and stop calling you a week ago!" Hmm… Strange. Beautiful she was. Not stupid. Surely she _knew_ he had her phone number…

The girl gasped. "I… I wouldn't! I-I didn't mean it! I… I'm sorry… Aiga… I… I know better now! You're…"

Aiga smiled, glad to know that she was now regretting all those years of bad mouthing him, his bright grin shutting her up instantly. Good. He liked her that way. Silent and beautiful. Ah… "Don't worry. I knew you'd come around someday, Nioma. I'll _always _keep your number. And I'll keep you close to my heart." He said affectionately.

The girl swooned. She actually _swooned!_ Hah hah! God! Oh, how the mighty have fallen! Despite the fact that he would gladly take the girl as his girlfriend and give up his lecherous ways for her, for a time at least, the poetic irony of her falling madly in love for him like she seemed to have done was not lost on him.

A small part of his mind thought otherwise. 'She's never believed _anything _like that that I've _ever_ said to her before! Never! And that was relatively weak compared to some of the crazy romantic crap I've said! Something is _wrong here!_"

He shrugged off the nagging thoughts with the ease of practice, having long experience with combating his negligible conscience when scheming to spy on girls locker rooms and the like. He _did_ have a conscience but it was small and pretty much dead weight when it came to anything important.

Now, he had _new_ prey to catch.

"Goodbye ladies!" With that, he walked away whistling a merry tune. The girl's simply stared at him. If anything, when he glanced back, he would have said their eyes were… longing.

He grinned devilishly.

Crossing the hallway, moving around the corridors and around a window or two, he found the girl who'd fallen on the staircase. Now she was clumsily picking up the assorted tidal wave of bags she'd dropped, replacing items that had decided it would be good to run away from their containers.

"May I help you miss?" He asked in his most suave voice.

The girl looked up, annoyance clearly written across her features as she angrily replaced the items; most of it was clothing. The anger lasted right up until she saw who it was she was talking to. When her eyes met his her entire demeanor changed. "O-Oh! It-It's you!" The girl stuttered, her long deep brown to black hair bouncing with her surprise.

His demeanor changed too. He was shocked! "Ukyo!?"

The girl blushed sheepishly. "Uhm… yeah… Hey Aiga...! Eheh! Wh-what are you doing, here?"

Ukyo Kuonji realized she should be pissed. This… _thing's _very nature normally reeked of perversion and that usually served to make her mad as hell any time he so much as spoke with her. Today… that was different. The perversion was there, cultivated by a pool of… something. 'He's sexy…' She thought. Then she gasped at herself. 'I… I didn't just…!'

She did. She'd just thought that…_that!_ She looked the boy up and down staring at his face and examining him the way a cop would investigate a murder._Telling_ herself that's how she was investigating him, though in reality it was more like how a wolf eyed a sheep. There was no change in… hell in anything about him! He was the exact same as he always was before but… something was different. And regardless of what had happened, he was making her trip all over herself!

"I'm shopping, Kuonji-san. What would you expect me to be doing?" He asked, his tone cool, his voice firm.

Ukyo flushed in embarrassment. "Oh! Right. Uh well… I… Yeah… I could use a hand."

'No you idiot!' She thought despairingly. 'Tell him to shove off! He's a jackass!' For some reason, her mouth would not listen to her brain. Her heart began to race, and she felt herself become aroused looking at him. 'Oh this is nuts!' The rational part of her brain told her. Her body didn't listen.

He knelt down and began picking up the items, his eyes trained on hers. Why in the world would Ukyo Kuonji wearing a… well… normal girl's clothing? It was just… weird. Blasphemy or something. But damn! When she actually tried…! She was… _wow! _Normal girls just couldn't compare to the martial artists!

Ukyo began fumbling around for the items. He was staring at her, straight in her eyes, but she would not back down like some blushing idiot. Were her hormones screwing with her today or something? Surely she didn't miss Ranma's male body so much that she would get… well… for_this_ to be attracting her! So she met his gaze and awkwardly tried to put items back in the bags without look at them. He seemed to have no problems lifting the floor-strewn clothing, _folding _it, and replacing it in the bags without even glancing where he was looking. 'How did he do that?' She wondered.

"I... I'm curious, Kuonji-san. Why are you dressed…"

Ukyo's brow furrowed. Attractive or not, it was thoughts like that that pissed her off! Was she not pretty? Not good enough for him? What!? She could be a girl sometimes if she wanted!

"…So beautifully?"

Her heart skipped a beat. Okay… Not what she thought he was thinking… 'Stupid heart!' She thought as words formed on her mouth that she did not put there. 'Y-you think I'm… Uhm…?"

"Very much so, Kuonji-san. Or… Ukyo if I may?" Aiga replied gently. In his mind only one word was running itself through his head. 'Score!'

Ukyo flushed. Maybe… Maybe Aiga wasn't so bad after all?

* * *

Tears of rage and anger and grief bled down her face as she cried in agony. Every part of her ached in pain, unending. She wriggled fruitlessly as she tried to find a position that wouldn't make her neck break with the strain. She couldn't stop the tears. Couldn't stop rubbing herself all over. Her breasts screamed with their mishandling, while her throat, bruised from the strangling she had endured for hours on end, rasped hoarsely. Her efforts were fruitless though. 

She turned on her side, squirming her naked skin against the cold hard wood of the box they had thrown her in. Blisters seeped into her skin. Her back scraped on the nails of the box and she did her best to ignore them. It wasn't too hard. They were mere pinpricks compared to… to…

Her insides burned with pain and her heart felt weak with the violation they had wrecked upon her body. She let out a wet sob. Why? Why had they done it? Her thoughts against her father had long been full of malcontent. She had always been merely her brother's plaything. His servant at best, and dog at worst.

Everyone knew that. She'd never been allowed to sit where the important people sat. Never been able to eat with the nobles.

Just Anshar's plaything. But… but never his whore! Never…

Sixteen years of servitude. Sixteen years of trying… dreaming… hoping that someday, she could kill the man who'd given her life. But she'd never been able to act. Never been able to lay a murderer's hand to her father. She'd never liked him; as a child he'd beaten her whenever he'd seen her, lest she was bringing him, or her brother food. He'd made her beg for her dinners as a child. Slapped her when she called him _father_. He'd _hated _her with ever fiber of his being ever since she'd been born.

She stopped struggling, finally crunched up in the box in the most comfortable way she could get. Her knees on either side of her face, her bottom rubbing against the top of the box, soothing her sore privates against the cool wood, while simultaneously laying her head straight; relief flooded through her sore neck with the new position.

She sobbed relentlessly into her hands. "Serenity… I… I want a father like yours… so much… Anything, I would do to be the sister you want…" She whispered to herself, choking through the wet heaves of tears falling through her eyes.

Her thighs began to strain with the effort stretching them over her head, her feet pressing against same wall as the top of her head, but she could do nothing. If she moved her neck would burn and her bleeding genitalia would burn worse. The cold wood, while searing her back with numbness, was the only thing that lessened the pain between her legs. She was thankful for it.

She tried to make her anger return. She'd always had anger. Always _hated_ the king. She'd seen the people. Their poverty. Their sadness. Their grief, as the Dark King went out amongst them and killed them for sport. The giddy laughter of her brother when they were younger as he watched, changing from laughter to glee as he grew old enough to revel in the same sport.

She'd sworn she would kill him someday but she'd never been able too. She could now. She could kill him now. If given half a chance she would see his entrails lying across the throne that had once belonged to her mother.

"Happy Name Day…" She sang in a low whisper, to herself, trying desperately to hold on to something… to content herself somehow. "To you, a happy name day…" Her crying gurgled her words to the point of taking her speech from her but she plowed on. "Six moons h-have past… s-since this day c-came last…" She tried to keep the up with how the song was supposed to go but she couldn't. Even so, the song helped sooth her. Helped her cope with what had happened. With what her brother had done. "Dear Kishar, to you, a H-happy Name Day…"

Over and over, she sung the song, the words seeping into her soul until she began to dream that her loved ones… her friends were there with her. Millie Wheatly, greatest baker in all Aurica. She would sing. Old Bysa Konger, the palace's head healer. She'd always loved talking to old Bysa. Bysa would sing to her. Gills Amnesty. The head servant. He'd sneak into her room, and sit at her bedside no matter how old she was, and tell her stories of the old times. The good times, before her father had come… before he'd turned her mother to madness. He was there… singing for her Name Day.

And Serenity… her best friend. Her only friend. It had been so long since she'd seen her… six months in reality since the last visit. She could… could almost see Serenity singing the song to her from afar in her_beautiful_ room… right that minute. God… how could she ever look at Serenity again? She hoped she never met eyes with her… she would feel… filthy… tainted in the presence of the purity of the Princess of the Silver Millennium.

"Please… God… Never let her find out about this…" She prayed, as she pictured the blonde girl singing the Name Day song to her, along with the others, until finally… finally, her sobbing began to ebb. The tears that she had thought were limitless in their falling had finally come to a rest. Slowly, ever so slowly, her mind hardened.

She had to escape. It was… was either that or, she had to finally kill her father.

She had to kill Taimaat. Either that… escape… or kill herself. Since killing her father was impossible as long as he held the Golden Crystal, and escaping was pointless; he could always find her through her mother's tie to the Kinsuishou, her only option was…

Hours, she remained, when her tears had run dry, and her bleeding had finally stopped. Hours and hours, but no one came. She felt her throat lose its moisture and begin to crackle. 'I… I'm going to die… Father want's me dead. I… I don't want to die…" She whimpered. Alone, cold, hurt, and trapped in a wooden box on her Name Day. New tears would have sprung up in her but she could not make any.

Just when she thought she couldn't take anymore, she heard a voice. "Princess… Are… are you alright…?" A cautious voice whispered from outside the box. Gills. The head servant. Grandpa Gills. He was the one who had told her the stories of her mother… back when she was sane. He… He'd found her… but that meant he knew what… what Anshar had done to her.

"G-Gills…? Let me alone. Let me die… Please… don't look at me like this. I don't want you to see... Just let me alone…" She croaked, her voice barely audible.

"I won't let you die, child. I… I love you… my dear, like my own daughter. And… I swear… someday… somehow… I'll get you out of here… out of Aurica… I promise…" The old man said. She could hear the tears in his voice.

Suddenly, light sprang into the box and a hole about half a finger in diameter was cut through right above her head, between where her feet were positioned above her.

"Gills… don't open it…!" She begged. She _couldn't _be seen like this! She _couldn't!_

"I can't child… the King would kill me. But… I couldn't stand it. You… you must be thirsty. Y-you've been in there for hours."

Hours? Was that all? It felt an eternity.

Suddenly something cold dribbled down from where the light spilled forth onto her head._'Water!' _she thought with joy as she craned her neck to get to the blissful substance, spilling in through the small hole.

She licked at the wooden wall madly, anxious for even the slightest bit of moisture. Her mind tried to stop her. There was no dignity in this. But then… what dignity did she have left after… She was _so _thirsty, though! She couldn't stop the slurping need as her tongue wiped across the wet wood.

Gills winced, listening to the princess, though he was the only one who called her princess, lick at the wooden walls of the box in a mad hysteria. She would have been heir to the throne. _She_ would have been the one learning to rule now… had it not been for Taimaat.

He pitied her. He tried desperately not to, but he pitied her. And she knew it. Still she could not stop herself from licking the hole till every shred of moisture was gone. "Please, Gills… Poison me. Let me die…"

"Ah! Gills! What a_pleasant_ surprise!" Came the humorous voice of her father.

Kishar cringed. 'No! Run Gills! Run!' She thought desperately, knowing that the words would be next to worthless. Her eyes began to wet but no tears were able to fall down her cheeks as she realized that Gills was a dead man.

"My dear," The voice slurred in that babyish way that always sickened her. "It appears that you might be useful after all!"

Kishar quivered in fear. All her life she'd been 'worthless' this or 'useless' that. She dreaded whatever had turned the tables. She'd been 'useful' for the first time as her brother's whore. Now he'd… found another use for her?

She'd rather die.

She felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach and it took her a moment to realize that it wasn't her terror. Her box was being lifted into the air; goosebumps ran up her wounded skin. He'd always loved to do this to her… dangle her by her feet with his power. He especially enjoyed dangling her off the upper balcony, but, as she grew older, she'd realized how to keep below his notice.

Or so she'd thought. He'd remembered her Name Day… quite well. She never wanted another Name Day. Not with him in it. Or her brother. Never again.

"Come along now, Gills. I'm sure you'll be most happy. Your dear Kishar is going to be a bargaining chip in my alliance with Serenity! How would you like that, my dear? I'll deliver you express! I'm sure the shippers will handle you with excellent care!" He chuckled mirthfully. "You _would_ like that, wouldn't you?"

Kishar almost fainted. He was… giving her away? To Serenity? She would have leapt for joy had she been able to move. Suddenly a golden needle sliced through the box cutting through her right arm with more ease than it cut through the wood. She yelped in horror as blood spewed from the wound. "Answer girl!"

"I… would…! I would…. Like that! Otou-sama!" She exhaled, forcing the words instead of the screams her burning arm demanded she exude.

She could _feel_ his smile as the box tipped and she fell to the side, her bleeding arm crashing into the hard wood. She yelped but held it in. He loved it when she screamed, and she would not give him the satisfaction.

"It was quite strange really. I was just yesterday in a meeting with Her Majesty, discussing the 'alliance'." He quipped the word as if it were a joke. To him, it was a joke. He sought to conquer the Silver Millennium as surely as he had conquered Aurica. "She insisted quite furiously, that I give her my firstborn daughter to seal the alliance. You so _loved_ the Silver Moon Palace didn't you my dear? Why! How could I object?"

His words sickened her. He's stench, permeated the air slipping through the small holes in the box, making her quiver in fear and disgust, but she said nothing. "So, I decided," He continued, mockingly, "that I would get the only _real_ use out of you that anyone ever will before I give you away. _Trust_ me… Anshar, marvelous boy he is, was less than impressed. But alas, there are other fish and all. Be glad, my dear. If I see you again, I will kill you on the spot. You've been warned."

In all her wildest dreams, she could never have _imagined_ her father would _give_ her to the woman she so desperately wished were her mother. If… If only she wouldn't be delivered naked in a wooden, coffin-like, box. But it could be a trick. He might just be raising her hopes so as to crush them as soon as she showed the slightest glimmer of hope. He was good at that.

Some time past, the man giggling in morbid humor as he turned her box upside down. She let out a howl as her private areas drug along the top of the box, her head slamming into the head of it, the small hole Gills had put there only slightly dampening how much it hurt. She curled into a ball, bringing her knees to her chin as much as she could, wriggling as she tried to get back onto her back, off of her aching arm, and protect her tender area.

Tears sprung anew as pain renewed within her.

"Queen Serenity!" Taimaat exclaimed suddenly after she'd felt herself float for a time, held less then carefully by the King's power. She heard him flourish and bend over to do what sounded like kissing the Queen's hand. Was it real? Was… was she really going to be given to Serenity. Oh Bloodfire, but she hoped so!

"King Bervenity." Came a voice made of ice, its tone colder than the Lunar Ice Caps. Kishar spat. That name did _not_ belong to scum like her father! But she dared to hope, this was real. Serenity. It sounded like her… though she'd never heard the Queen sound so cold before.

"Where is she?" The Queen demanded, her voice chilling even Kishar to the bone. Her own mother, Mairis, could be frightfully cold when she wanted but Kishar shuddered as she felt a wave of freezing air blast through the cracks in her box. "What is the box for?"

A moment of silence passed, Kishar felt nothing. An eye settled into the hole, black as midnight, and she cringed. Her father could see in the dark, and she could feel the grin in the one eye he used to roam her body, or at least, what parts of her body that were not visibly covered by her knees or arms..

Suddenly her world shook, back and forth, and she was flopped around like the soda in a mrisis bottle. Her head banged against the ceiling and her bottom, thudded against the floor, but the pain was nothing compared to how much her arm burned. She hardly noticed, save for the wave of dizziness that washed over her.

"Are you still in there, darling?" Taimaat cooed, in what should have been a fatherly tone. "Better let the Queen know she's not getting… 'damaged goods'." He chuckled mirthfully as shame larger then even her longing desire to kill her father rose up within her. Serenity was here! It… it was really happening! She…

"I…. I'm here…" She croaked. She heard his hands clapped together.

"Splendid! There you are, Queen Serenity! All wrapped up for you! Aren't I kind?" He said with a big grin.

A gasp echoed from a different voice outside, and Kishar's shame doubled. Her mind screamed with self loathing. Why!? 'Chibi-Serenity… Sere-chan… She is here!? She… _knew!_ God, I can't take this!'

A sharp jolt, far stronger then before, of coldness like that of the deepest winter blasted through her and she stiffened, dead still. "Were it not for my people and my daughter, I would kill you where you stand, Taimaat. I do not wish another war." Came the harsh voice of the elder Serenity.

"You would try, my dear. You would try." He said with what seemed like a happy grin. "Well! This is the final trade, correct? We have our alliance." He stated. It was not a question.

"Taimaat. If I so much as sense you brewing a war, I will destroy you. This I swear." Said the Elder Serenity, her voice the same ice whip.

"You have my word." Taimaat replied, his own voice now deep and threatening. "That is all then? Be off. Enjoy her! I'm sure she will find the Silver Millennium much more accommodating than here. I expect the first shipment of Imperium within the week."

"And I, the Aiode Matter." She replied tartly.

"Then we are in agreement. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll see myself out. I advise you do the same, Dear Queen. If I see that… scum… again, I will kill her." And with that, he was gone.

Kishar's box fell like an iron block to the ground slamming into it, her back thunking harshly against the wood on stone of the floor his gravity brought on. Her arm snapped and she let out a shriek, inwardly thanking god that her head had been ready for such a drop, and thus remained in the air.

"Kishar!" The woman exclaimed, all of the ice gone completely. The motherly Serenity the Fourth had returned.

"Queen… Serenity…. Is it… really you?" She begged, through the hole. "Gills? Are… you still out there, Gills?"

She heard scrambling and heard the sound of soft hands lying on the wood at the top of the box. "Kishar! I'm going to get you out of there."

"No!" Kishar exclaimed, piteously. "I… I'm… I don't want you to see…"

"Kishar… I'm taking you away from this place… I'm taking you home with me… you'll live with Chibi-Serenity… if you like…" The woman had tears leaking down her face. "I-I…. I can't believe he would do this!"

"Kisha?" Came a lighter softer voice. Kishar felt dirty. Tainted. Unworthy. Unfit to be anywhere near such kindness as these two. Serenity…

"It's really you… isn't it?" She asked, curling into a ball once more and spinning so her knees laid on the ground, her back facing up. "Please… please go away Sere-chan… I don't want you to see." She repeated, trying to make her voice sound forceful. It came out as barely a whisper.

"A-Alright, Kisha-chan. I… We wanted to save you…" She said, softly, tears trailing down her cheeks. "I can't believe he would put you in a box like this! He's… he's… a bastard!" The young blonde screamed, unable to rein in her anger. Her mother could find no fault in her daughter's words, so instead, she turned her attention to the other girl. Drawing on the crystal, she pulled light from around her and compressed till it became a robe of the finest and lightest sort.

"Dear, it's alright. I have a robe out here. I promise, I'll wrap you the second I open the box. I won't look. I promise." The woman said in what was her most soothing voice.

Kishar could only hope it wasn't all some trick. Some scheme of Taimaat's to make her wish for death even more than she already did. "O-okay…"

It happened all at once. The top of the box simply lifted off of the other four sides, titanium nails lifting forth from the malleable wood under the raw force of Serenity the Fourth's Power.

The woman instantly bathed the pale back of the young red-headed girl in the pristine white robes, and lifted her bodily out of the coffin-like container.

Kishar winced as light fractured her eyes, blinding her. She felt the soft robe drench her in cool, soothing, gentle touches, even as the woman hugged her mightily, and tears came again. She was Sixteen Now! A woman in the eyes of her peers. She shouldn't be… doing this! She should be… What she should have been and what she _should_ have done were all swept away in the unbearable kindness of the ancient queen. She wept and bawled until she truly did think she would die of dehydration, soaking the woman's dress.

"Child… child… You can come with me now. I'll never let anyone hurt you again. I promise…"

Kishar's arm left arm held the woman as tightly to her as she could; her right hung limply, bleeding down the woman's dress. Chibi-Serenity gasped when she'd first seen the girl, as the box opened but she began rubbing her back in a friendly gesture when she realized how much Kishar had been hurt. She hadn't comprehended the true extent of what had been done to her, though.

Queen Serenity did. She knew what had happened the second she'd opened the box. Oh Holy! How could he have done such a thing!?

She didn't know. All she knew was that, from now on, Kishar would have the life she'd surely always dreamed of.

And no one would stand in the way of that. No one.

Kishar cried, and kept crying even when she realized Serenity had begun to lift her with her power, as her father did. But it wasn't the harsh strangle of Taimaat. No. It was… gentle… forgiving… understanding. It held her up, and allowed her to remain draped onto the woman's shoulder, clinging like the queen was a lifeline.

And slowly, she felt herself drift away, as the queen walked, Sere-chan by her side.

The last thing she heard before sleep finally took her was salvation itself; Sere-chan was singing the Name Day song.

Singing to her.

* * *

Ranma woke with tears in her eyes, blinking at the rays of sunshine pouring in through the windows. She felt like she was missing something. As if she had lost the most important thing in the world and would never again feel it. She felt as if she were dying inside and didn't know why. Her vision blurred. She wanted her mother. Nodoka? No… no, not her… She… she wanted to be home. 

"Ranma…! She's waking up!" A girl's voice exclaimed. Ranma recognized it, dimly.

Someone rushed into the room. "What did you do!?" exclaimed a male voice. The doctor. She remembered.

"Nothing…!" The girl stood, and Ranma began to get an outline through the tears in her eyes. The girl sniffed loudly and seemed to wobble in Ranma's blurry vision.

Suddenly someone was on her. It was the doctor she knew, but it didn't stop her mind. Fear jolted through her. He was on her! Touching her! Hands were at her chest, and her eyes lit with fire, the tears clearing up in an instant. Ranma's fingers blazed to life faster than they had ever moved. She snatched the first hand and twisted it to the point of breaking, catching the second in an easy swirl, turning the man around. No one but Sere touched her. _No one._

He winced and then gasped as both his arms were twisted behind him and a bare foot placed against his back. "Never touch me again." Ranma heard herself say. "Swear it!" She twisted his arms a bit harder to get the point across.

He screamed his affirmation. "I swear! I won't! Damn!" He shouted, then began cursing in heavy English.

She let him go and at the same time, pushed him with her foot, slamming him into the wall. Her heart was racing, as memory slowly began to flood back. Guilt welled in her as she realized what she had done. He was a doctor. It was his job to heal her! Why… why had she…?

Memory came flooding back. The enormous hound, bathed in flames, on her, tearing at her, ripping her chest. That's what he had been looking at. The holes. Not her… not her breasts.

She pulled her shirt open and found only scars where she'd been sure gaping holes would have been. What had happened to her? How long had she been here?"

The doctor slowly pulled himself up. "There's… no way…" He coughed as he got to his feet, dusting himself off. He turned to stare at the other patron, the black haired girl. "It's not possible. There were bloody gashes in her chest just twenty minutes ago!"

Ranma turned to look to the black haired girl as well and found her recognized her. "H-hey you're… you're the girl who stood up for me in the cafeteria! H-Hotaru!" Ranma exclaimed, proud that she had remembered her name from Gasanda.

The girl shyly nodded. "I… please don't remind me of that. I've never felt so sick before… But I heard you were hurt and I… I had to help!" The girl wilted. She was obviously quite shy, and a bit strange as well.

"H-how long have I been here?" She asked, but the doctor interrupted the girl's already shaky reply. "Three days." He said, matter-of-factly. "And in those three days, you've completely screwed with everything I've ever been taught about wounds. You shouldn't even be alive, let alone able to move, and yet you just completely disabled me."

"Impossible is nothing new for me." Ranma said, finally returning to her normal frame of mind. Something had been wrong with her when she woke up. Maybe it was a hallucination or something. She'd been dreaming. She_knew_ that. But she never remembered, though this one, she could feel vague glimpses. A cage. A box. Something about a box…

"I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean… I… you scared me." She said, sheepishly.

The doctor grinned. "Aw, don't worry 'bout it. Had a rabies patient bite me once. You're much better then she was!" The doctor, said. "Better yet, you're alive, and well or so it seems. I'm Doctor Aaron Davis. And I'm glad to see you awake." He turned his insightful eyes on the shy girl sitting in the waiting chair. "Well indeed."

Hotaru gulped. Did he know? Did he know about her power?

Ranma sighed. "I… I guess I'm just lucky. I should've died."

Glancing around the room her eyes fell on Hotaru. The girl looked positively exhausted. Her hair was strewn haphazardly about her face and her eyes looked as if they would be rolling into the back of her head any minute. She slumped languorously against the back of the chair, her head resting on the wall as she watched the events with a sure smile.

The doctor raised an eyebrow. "Not something many would say." He commented wryly. He picked up a clipboard and approached the girl sitting on the bed. "Now, about your chest. Are you going to hold me to my forced oath or would you rather I look at it? Just in case your heart bursts and all."

Ranma shivered involuntarily. It was a joke; she could tell from his grin. That didn't stop her from worrying though. She remembered _exactly_where those claws had landed. Remembered the feeling of her heart being cleaved out from her chest.

He noticed this as she lay back down, and nodded at him. "I'm sorry," he voiced. "I've… just never seen such a miracle. It's a _good_ experience for me! I'm… glad when a patient like you pulls out. You really… shouldn't be alive."

"I know…" The redhead replied solemnly. She turned a narrowed eye to Hotaru. "I think I have someone to thank."

The black haired girl shrunk shyly away from the redhead's firm gaze, and Ranma noted just how much she seemed to be acting as if she were guilty of robbing her while she'd been unconscious.

Ranma dropped the girl and let it fall to a small smile. She really did owe the girl. It was nice of her to come visit. And she still owed her a thank you for standing up for her that day. "Thank you for coming to visit me, Hotaru-chan. And for standing up for me a few days ago. It really meant a lot. I tried to find you but… you were gone."

"Please… don't remind me…" She murmured, repeating her earlier word.

Ranma was confused for a moment, but then Hotaru stood, wobbling slightly. "I'll be going out. I'm gonna tell everyone you woke up and seem to be alright. I-Is that okay? Doctor? She is alright… right?"

Doctor Davis nodded to her. "Don't give them complete assurance. I'm still not sure, but she seems to be in no pain. Tell them, that from the looks of it right now, she's experienced a miracle."

Hotaru grinned, though weakly; she turned her attention back to the redhead. "Ranma. I'm glad you're okay!" She gushed.

"Me too, Hotaru." Ranma replied.

Hotaru let herself out into the hallway.

After she left, the doctor approached the redhead, undoing her shirt. She stiffened. Every muscle in her body stiffened as his fingers worked at the pulling down the admittedly smelly garment. The reaction was there again but she stifled it. The urge to break his arms. He shouldn't be touching her!

'What the hell is wrong with me?' She thought, visibly stressed. Sweat began pouring down her face as his fingers trailed the scars. She gulped; a new emotion was rising within her. Fear.

"Does that hurt?" The doctor asked, oblivious to anything but her immense sweating. She was nervous around men. That much he'd gleaned already, so he disregarded it.

"N-no." Barely containable rage, along with an equal welling of fear merged together to form a nervous stuttering of her words. Why the hell was she afraid!? Kuno had flat out grabbed her before and she'd never felt an ounce of fear! Disgust maybe. But… _fear?_

The young doctor looked her in the eyes. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just checking your wounds. _I Promise_." He said with a tone of finality that backed itself on his actions. Apparently he _could_ tell just how uncomfortable his touch was making her.

Ranma nodded, soothed a little, her fears being pounded on by her own pride and the doctor's amiable statement towards the unconscious wants her body was demanding of her. She _didn't _want him _near _her!

He poked her chest a few times more, asking for pain and finding that she truly felt none. Five scars, all dimpled a bit as if they were places where skin had been burn once, though, from the look of it, it happened a long time ago.

The doctor stood straight, pulling the girl's shirt across her breasts, covering them once more as a flood of relief washed over her. He gave a rough sigh with a light chuckle. "I just don't believe it. I'm going to have you scheduled for an MRI, just to be sure your heart and lungs are working like they should be, okay?"

Ranma nodded. "Y-yeah. That's fine. I don't wanna be released and then have my heart explode! Eheh…" She joked, and the doctor smile, catching his own pun coming back at him. "That would be pretty bad for you, right?" She asked, innocently.

Suddenly the door banged open. "Ranma!" Came a deep shout. Akane Tendo and Ryoga Hibiki dashed to her bedside like bullets. Akane grappled the redhead in an embrace that left Ranma wincing, while Ryoga stood behind them.

Ranma connected eyes with his greatest rival and found… concern. Downright worry and concern etched across the eternally lost boy's face.

"A-Ak… Akane?" She asked, turning her attention away from her rival to the girl in her arms. "What are you doing here?"

Akane glared up at the redhead and whipped out a sign, angrily reading, "Just because I'm not your fiancée anymore doesn't mean I don't _care! _I was so worried about you!"

Doctor Davis was intrigued by her literal 'sign language' but, not wanting to interrupt anything, took a seat in one of the four chairs lined up around the bedside.

Ranma felt a hand land on her shoulder as she stared into the eyes of the girl she… wished still loved her. Her heart warmed, and began to race a bit. Akane's tear-filled eyes. She cared. She _cared!_ It was all Ranma could do not to take that as another way of saying she still loved her. She knew that wasn't what the girl meant but, _oh_ how she wished!

She let her wet eyes leave the Tendo's face as she trailed them up the hand on her shoulder, to find Ryoga staring down at her.

"R-Ryoga?" She asked. "Wh-what are you—!"

"Shut up!" The lost boy interrupted harshly with a glare. He grit his teeth as if the words he was about to use were anathema but he said them anyway. "Dammit, Ranma I care, too!" They seemed to physically pain him, but he plowed on. "I… you're a friend Ranma! B-Best I got! H-How dare you get so close to dying! Wh-what the hell would I do then, huh!?"

Ranma felt almost as touched as she had been by her father a few days previous. Almost. But she was beginning to fear just how much her life was changing. Being a girl completely flipped her world on end. As a guy she'd never been treated like she was now. Suddenly, everyone was emotional. Suddenly, everyone cared. The thought made her feel hollow.

'Really…? Am I, _really_ a friend?' She wondered, holding Akane. 'Or do you just pity me?'

She didn't want to know the answer.

* * *

Setsuna Meioh's eyes locked like targets on the gates. Her gates. They _were_ her gates. She walked forward, reverently, in the mist, so similar to Lio's gates, but different. She felt every mist particle. She breathed, and the air replenished itself within her. The _air_ was hers. She moved it, and a small tornado appeared in her hands. She gawked. She turned to look up to the sky and imagined a waterfall, spilling into the endless mist, and it was there. She imagined a vast forest as far as the eye could see, and it was there! She dreamed of a bedroom, red carpet, with an _enormous _mirror, on one wall, another wall made of windows, with glass doors leading out to a balcony, dimly lit by the night sky. 

And it was _there!_ Everything in this world was hers. This place was hers to command entirely. And she was left in awe. She turned to stare at Liopolis, her eyes wide as lakes.

"This is…" She breathed, trying to make a word to fit the wonder with which she felt, knowing that something so magnificent was tied irreversibly to her very soul.

"Indescribable. I've often tried, but it is impossible. My own feelings of reverence and wonder for my gates are similar to yours, or so you told me last we discussed it." Liopolis said as he walked forward to examine the small tornado still spinning wildly in her hands.

He grinned. "Now_that_ would make an interesting toy between your legs, wouldn't you say?"

Her face heated and the tornado exploded in a cacophony of speeding air, slapping him quite thoroughly in the face. "Th-that's, c-completely…!"

He shrugged off the slap as if it were a little more than a feather-light touch. "Oh lighten up! You're twice as crass to me when you wake me up!" He exclaimed.

"I am not!" Retorted the green-haired girl, a deep red flush flowing down her body. "I'm scared shitless of sex!"

Liopolis blinked. For a good three seconds, staring at her glaring eyes.

Then he burst out laughing! Laughing! The nerve! "Reeeally?" He sniggered. "F-for some reason I didn't get that feeling yesterday!"

This man was absolutely intolerable! "Th-that was different!" She stuttered. "You seduced me! And I… That was just different!" The words sounded petulant and phony. Even she knew it. He kept laughing.

Sooner or later, he finally caught his breath, bastard that he was. What could she do? She just stood there, while he laughed, flushing ever redder. When he finished, he beamed at her.

She couldn't help the simper that came to her lips. Her genophobia was laughable. But it_ was_ true dammit! Or it had been. It was as if Lio simply took the phobia away. He… _knew_ her. It was as if he'd known her intimately all her life. The little words he would say. The small smiles. His way of teasing her. It was as stimulating as it was infuriating! She couldn't believe how much she wanted to kiss him, shuck his clothes completely and just go at him again as they had the entire previous day. It was making her think he'd used a drug on her or something! Save for her heart skipping beats every five minutes, she felt perfectly fine though.

Her mind had wandered so far, daydreaming about the man in front of her that she'd forgotten about him, so his touch on her inner thigh was quite unexpected.

She yelped, finding him behind her yet again. How the hell did he do that!?

"As it turns out…" He whispered into her ear in that way that told her he _knew_ what her thoughts had been. "You _do_ like that tornado between your legs! _You _invented if after all, Soul of My Heart."

"Noooo!" She moaned, at first in protest, her eyes rolling into the back of her head as he seduced her again, realizing that he had his own spinning air cyclone in his hand and was trailing it down her clothes, touching the wide spinning end to her body. "You… can't keep… doing this! I… I have a boyfriend!" She attempted to say. She wasn't sure if the words had actually come out.

The man beamed once more. "Not anymore. You have a husband, now."

The cyclone left her skin and the mind-numbing pleasure left her again. This time she was disappointed. What was he _doing_ to her!?

His arm slipped around her waist, holding it firmly as he walked toward the gates. "It's time, Sailor Pluto. Time to take up your mantle again." His hand tightened on her waist in such a way that Setsuna felt a wave of comfort. Sailor Pluto? _Her!?_

"Wh-what?" She asked. "I… you mean I am…?"

She had not realized he'd been walking her until she saw the gates looming over her. She felt afraid, but she didn't know why. She looked at him, confused, absorbing comfort from the warm arm holding her. The Gates of Time. She didn't know how she knew what they were called but that was definitely their name. It wasn't a gate, so much as it was a doorway, or so it seamed. A looming enormous Arc, five times her height. Falling from the arc was a mirror like surface made of metallic looking liquid, that appeared to be constantly cascading down into the mist.

He gave her a great grin. "I'll see you on the other side, Sailor Pluto. Welcome back, Soul of My Heart."

And suddenly the arm hurled her into the watery mirror.

It was only an instant, but in that moment, she felt the gates. They scorched into her mind. Burned into her soul. Searching her. Viewing her. Spreading her hopes, her dreams, her desires, her fears, all of her, reading her as if she were a mere book. Reading her, to allow her the privilege of reading them. It was not a surprise that she found herself naked, the gates making sure she was the true owner, reborn.

And then, came the power. Pluto. The gates read her body, and brought forth the power, outfitting her with a black gleaming light. It swirled about her like a black river of silk, sweeping her. The fabric surrounding her seemed to weave itself into existence. The time to weave such magnificently intricate fabric, speeding through in mere seconds what should have taken centuries.

After an eternity, that seemed a second. An hour that seemed a year. A minute that seemed a decade, she was dressed. Time descended upon her and the weight of her duty pressed into her mind. The knowledge of her immortality and the dreams of her future. It descended in the form of a staff of silver, a gleaming heart gilded into the top, handles made for her hands, and power grafted to fit her mind and her mind alone entered her.

And she was the Senshi of Pluto once again.

She blasted out the other end of the gates of time and found herself falling into the arms of Rebirth.

"Liopolis…" She sighed, breathing heavily, her heart beating miles a minute.

"Pluto." He responded, lightly, holding her.

"I… I'm sorry I was gone so long, My Eternity." She whispered. She didn't remember her life, but she remembered her death. She _felt_ how long she had been gone. Three hundred years. Three hundred years her counterpart had waited.

"I waited for you." He turned her in his arms lying her down on the mist. The mist became a bed before her head hit a pillow and Liopolis smiled. "Usually it's the other way around."

"I know… I'm sorry… I don't remember any of my last life… just feelings." She beamed, despite her words. "But, I love you, Rebirth."

Liopolis's heart skipped a beat. He knew she wouldn't remember. She was Time. She governed the passing. She ruled the art of forgetting the things of old, leaving the past behind and moving on to the future. He was different; his was art was remembering. Recalling those who had past and bringing them forth once more.

Normally that worked. She lived forever, and while he died, he remembered when he was reborn and they could pick up where they had left off every time he returned to life. But she'd died last time. Died so that he would live. Normally it took thousands of years for the Senshi of Time to return. But Rebirth couldn't wait. Three hundred years he'd spent, digging through the multitudes of souls held within his gate. Searching and searching until he finally… finally found her.

Maybe that was why she remembered him? She remembered the moments in which he rescued her from the sea of souls taking her out of the gate, and her soul moved to take form.

He willed the change, touching the Henshin Scroll buried next to his heart, having long outgrown the need for the flashy transformation of his youth. The fuku, black, trimmed with white bows and fabric, the polar opposite to her own white with black trim.

And she kissed her. The type of kiss time spent itself waiting on. The type souls came back for.

And, to Setsuna, life… Rebirth and Time were perfect.

* * *

**End Chapter**

* * *

**Author's Notes: PLEASE REVIEW! Come on! This is my third longest fic! It deserves better! Not for me! For the fic! For the fic!**

**Okay… partially for me.**

**Good news! I am officially a student at EIU (Eastern Illinois University!) Major: Mathematics. (I know calculus now! Haha! Thanks Newton!) **

**Not quite moved there yet. Not till the summer. But I'm finally growing up! Ain't'cha proud? **

**Okay, so it's not the Chicago I always wanted. Don't worry, I'll get there someday. Been going north my entire life, slowly, one move after another. **

**I hope you liked the fic! I TOLD you it would be angsty!**

**Till Next!**

**MB**


	6. Succor

* * *

**Disclaimer: Don't Own Ranma ½ or Sailor Moon**

**Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated to alcohol and 20****th**** birthdays. While none of this chapter was WWI (Written While Intoxicated) this author did experience his first real dose of heavy drinking between this and the last chapter, thus bringing forth a slew of ideas, ranging from this chapter itself to a Ranma/Scrubs crossover. **

**Interesting stuff, what's in my head. I really should write it all down.**

…

**Wait...**

* * *

**-Chapter Five-**  
**-Succor-**

* * *

Pluto jumped, scrambling away from the screaming ray of green light. Two more followed suit and she dodged as fast as her feet could take her. Her breathing was ragged and sweat poured down her face in streams. Her hair was soaked with it. 

"Faster!" Came Lio's angry cry. "I won't have you die like last time because you aren't fast enough! _Move it!" _

'Baka!' Pluto shouted in her mind, vowing to rip out her lover's entrails next chance she got. Not really, obviously, but the thought made her smile.

"_Living Howl!" _

"_Dead Scream!"_ She shouted for what seemed the thousandth time, another echoing barrage of nightmarish rays blasting forth from the purplish orb her spell had conjured. In reality, it had been _more_ than a thousand. Her throat was hoarse and her lips were dry. She _dreamed_of water, but the river was at least another two kilometers. She thought that's about how far he'd led her away. Bastard.

Her deep purple rays met his green, deflecting them with ease. Ease, on the part of the rays at least. Her arm burned with the effort of channeling so much of the raw power she felt buried beneath her skin; the magic within her seemed inexhaustible. She was getting better.

Dashing around, retreating in the cover of the light explosion between them, she hid in a rock enclave; it was just a small part of the miles and miles of valley surrounded by mountains, like spires reaching for heaven that her mind had created for this one purpose.

She found him not far from where he had been his eyes scanning left and right trying to find her. It wouldn't take long. He'd already proven himself far better at this game then her. Sweat poured down her forehead in small rivers trailing down her cheeks. Her hair had been soaked for hours. Even so, despite the pain in her arms and torso, the burning of moving the magic within her, channeling it into her attacks, she felt she could go on forever.

She breathed and the air of her home filled her with life and energy and still more power. Her legs felt like jelly, especially now that she was crouched behind the rubble. The moments the appendages were being given rest made her realize it all the more, but even as she lay there, her home replenished them. Here she was infinite. Here, she was… a goddess.

Against all but him at least. He was still going. Twenty three hours, thirty nine minutes, and twenty seven seconds they'd been battling, the knowledge of the passage of time coming unbidden to her mind. A never ending war of light and power. Why, oh why, had she ever agreed to this? The bastard! It's not like she _knew_ he'd been being serious when he told her they were going to be fighting for twenty four hours straight! She'd thought it was a joke!

Still, she knew he had no torrent of energy refilling him like she did. No. He was going on his own strength. God, he was _so strong!_ How _invincible_must a person be to battle nonstop for an entire day without even giving an ounce!? He didn't even look tired! If she'd had an ounce less focus she would have swooned.

Now, almost all of the way through, she paradoxically dreamed of sleep. She _longed_ for rest but it would not come. He kept attacking, spouting about how he wouldn't let her die again. Her muscles were tense from extensive use. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been still for so long! Three seconds…

Her lover was getting closer, but not close enough yet. Her reflexes were returning to her. Was he playing with her? He'd done so earlier, eight hours ago when she'd thought she'd had a good hiding spot. Did he know where he was? She watched his mouth. No smirk. He was frustrated! He _didn't_ know.

Inside, she grinned. A small victory. He took two more steps and that gave her all she needed. He was in range!

She didn't know how she knew what to say… how she knew to pull the power into the sky. She didn't know how she knew, but she did. The words came like faint whispers in her ears, begging her to their bidding.

And her voice died. Fading into a deep deathly sunder, her words came as minions of the hail of death they were sure to summon.

"_Dead Rain." _

In an instant, she blanketed the sky with her magic; it poured out across the heavens of the great domain that was her world. The sky rained down hundreds, thousands of balls of purple light, each spewing forth multiple rays of light, littering the torched grass valley with ray after ray after power-wrought deathly lights.

'D-Dear god…' She thought, as she watched the effects of her power, backing away slowly. 'If… If I did that in Tokyo…'

She fell down in utter shock. She… could make the sky rain with death… Lio! Lio! W-was he alright!? Her eyes jerked to where she had targeted him, praying he was alive. Oh god, it had been so _strong!_ She hadn't known! She… she hadn't known!

"Oh God… what have I done?" She shuddered, staring across the scorched valley as her eyes began to water. Once, the valley of her mind had been green, pristine land with acre after endless acre of green reaching to the mountains, decorated with many gashes of darkened dirt from their ongoing duel.

Now the entire valley as far as she could see, was naught but scorched dirt and the ashes of burned prairie shrubbery.

"Exactly what, I've been waiting for you to do." Came a voice from behind her, scaring her to death. A female voice.

She jumped, turning as fast as she could and seeing Lio, or rather, Liopolis, decked in all her Senshi-powered glory. She'd transformed! All _day_ she'd been wishing the bastard would transform! But that thought didn't even surface in light of the overwhelming relief.

"Y-you're alright! I thought I— I was so… so…" She dashed to the taller girl, throwing her arms around her in an embrace so tight even Liopolis was crushed. She bawled and bawled into the other girl's comforting shoulder, her fear that she had killed him, washing through her, drowning away the adrenaline of battle.

"It's alright, Setsuna. It's alright. I'm fine. I'm fine." Was all the girl whispered. "I'm fine."

The valley faded and mist and darkness were all there was once more. Mist and darkness. And the gates… looming over her like an everlasting mother. They were more foreboding than ever now that she knew what they were.

It seemed another eternity that she cried into the taller girl's shoulder, but Liopolis would not let her go. "Do you understand yet? Your powers, if unleashed could be catastrophic. From the day you take up the mantle, your emotions must always be in control. They _must!_ Or this…" He waved his hands, exhibiting control over her domain allowing the scorched valley to reappear. "…could happen where it matters. All this, and you've barely scratched the surface of your powers, Setsuna. _That_ was what you were learning today."

Setsuna was blindsided by the revelation. "Y-you mean… it wasn't endurance training? B-but I thought…" All that and it was only so that she could break her limits and realize how much power she contained. That was_all_ the past twenty four hours of constant battle had been for? That was _it!?_

He chuckled wryly. "Heh. You could call it a light warm-up for endurance training. No. Maybe just a short exercise."

Her eye's practically popped out of their sockets. Gone was the fear and worry for him. Now it had been replaced by fear and worry for herself! A-an exercise! A_sh-short exercise!!_

"Wh…! I…! You…!" She didn't know what to say. Her arms were still wrapped tightly around his shoulders. His Senshi uniform had faded without her realizing it, him growing a few inches making her reach a bit more difficult.

He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her away from him so he could look into her eyes. "You saw how long I could fight without even my Senshi form. I also can't draw from my gates when we are here like you can. You will be able too do this as well. It'll take time. But… fortunately for us… we have all the time in the world.

He backed away from her, and instantly he took a stance that she knew all too well. But she wasn't ready yet! Not yet! She was tired! Sore…! She… she wanted to go home!

"W-wait!" She cried feebly as words began to form on the lips of her lover. "I'm not ready!"

The green haired girl backed away, as fast as she could but fortunately he stopped. "What is wrong? You're surely fine by now. The gates replenish you multitudes faster than sleep. You should be just fine!" He seemed slightly annoyed.

"I… I want to go home! I can't just keep training here forever! What do you mean,_all the time in the world?_ I… I've been gone for three days! My parents are probably worried sick about me! And school! Miss Quarina's class! They were counting on me to be there for the Komatane basketball game! I… I need to go back!" She exclaimed. How could he expect her to just stay here fighting him! God, she loved him so much! But she had _family _too! And her friends! Could he expect her to just… just drop everything and elope with him in this place of nothingness!

… And frankly she'd_much _rather be with her friends then here _fighting! _For… for… god if that day long battle had been an… an… _exercise!_ They would be here for… for months! Years!

"It... is best if you forget you ever knew them… Setsuna-chan." Liopolis said sadly. His tone was laced with disheartenment and woe.

Her world plummeted. Was he… was he demanding that of her!? She… she couldn't stay with him unless she abandoned her… her family?

"I c-can't do that…! I don't _want_ to do that!_" _Her tone wasn't firm. Her resolve wasn't even all that firm. Smashed Cockroaches! Why was this so _hard! _It should have been easy! Pathetically easy! This roundabout hooligan had kidnapped her, no matter what way the scenario was looked at! Her family came first!

It did!

… Dammit! It did!

Then why was she considering his words? She felt… she needed him…! But…

"Okaasan…" She murmured. Her mother. Aya Meioh. Her mother was a pain, and a hassle to be around. Often times she simply couldn't _stand _her! But… she was still her mother. Her father, Ryogochi Meioh, was a stern man. He expected a lot of her, and was _proud_ of her! She'd always been a model student. She'd always been one of the best!

She'd always loved her father. And her mother. How could she be expected too…?

'_You belong here, with Lio.' _

Something in her mind told her, this and she couldn't deny the truth of it. How much she wanted to be with him forever. An unconscious geas wanting to keep her with the one person she could never be without again. The piece of her soul that had been missing for her entire life. But…

'I barely know him! I love my family!' She screamed back at herself, an inner war brewing in the depths of her heart and mind.

'_He's your soul-mate. Your 'only one'.'_

'They're my _family!_They've been with me my whole life!' She screamed back. It didn't help. The voice plowed right on.

'_He's been waiting for you for _thousands_ of lives. Thousands of time spans lasting longer than generations of parents and family and friends.'_

"No!" She screamed, her eyes watering in anger and grief. "I won't! I won't just abandon everything I grew up with! I… I _can't!_"

In her mind she furiously pushed down the words enveloping her mind. Threw off the comfort the thought of being with Lio forever provided. Threw it all away, ripping out the piece of her soul that so wished to stay within her. That she _wanted _within her! Tears began leaking down her eyes as she felt her heart tear in two.

"H-how could my soul-mate be someone so cruel as to take me from everyone else I love?" She begged in a hysterical fit. "I'm going back! I… I'm going!"

Liopolis became frantic. She was going to teleport! Going to rejoin the world! She couldn't! She couldn't! Not again! "No! Setsuna! Suna-chan! Wait! I can explain! I can—!"

And in a flash of pain and tears, she dashed through the gates and was gone. Her path chosen.

A tear streamed down Liopolis's cheek.

"They… they don't remember you anymore… Setsuna…" He whispered to the nothingness.

No one answered.

The pain he felt in the portion of his soul that Setsuna had replaced, grew. She would cry. Oh Bloodfire would she cry... But he would be there for her.

He… would be there. Always.

"I'm sorry… Setsuna."

* * *

Ryoga lifted his hand off the much smaller redhead's shoulder worriedly. Even as he did so he couldn't stop the flow of… thoughts from rising up within his mind. Sick thoughts. Twisted thoughts. He hated Ranma! He always had, till recently at least. But that hate had… changed. Somehow, it had expanded to new bounds. Bounds that the lost boy was extremely uncomfortable with. He had professed his unending hate for Ranma ever since as far as he could remember. Back then, the boy had deserved it. He'd had everything Ryoga had ever wanted. Everything Ryoga had ever dreamed of. But… one by one, all of those things were taken away from the boy. One by one, he… _she… _lost them all. 

At first the lost boy had reveled! Ranma was _finally _getting what he had coming! Hah! Served him right!

Then guilt had begun to swell in him. Memories surfaced. All the times Ranma had covered for him when Akane had come _this _close to discovering his curse. Like the invincibility tattoo. Sure he'd _wanted_ too show her but, in the end, he hadn't wanted Ryoga to lose the chance at friendship with the Tendo girl. At least it seemed that way. That wasn't the action of an enemy, or even a rival. More memories. Herb and the battle for the Hot Water Kettle, the Kaisuifuu. When he and Mousse had cursed themselves permanently, Ranma's only concern had been, not for herself, but for them! Even after they'd betrayed her. That was neither the action of an enemy, nor a rival. Was that not the action of a friend?

Ryoga realized at some point that he should be happy, despite his growing guilt. Ranma's life was hell now. As much if not _more_ of a hell then his own, though the redhead still had never had the _joy _of running from a butcher for her life as of yet. But still more memories of Ranma arose, and the guilt swelled double.

Finally had come the day that Akane had awoken. That miraculous day, when they'd thought she would be in a coma forever, she had awoken. Ranma had held him that day. Called him a buddy. Even if he had been a pig while it happened, she held him and comforted him as the girl of his dreams lay dying. That had been the final straw between him and the burning need for revenge that had quenched him for so long. The fire was no longer there. The hatred, no longer there. No. Then, all he saw was that, Ranma too, was suffering, just as much as he.

So he'd left. How could he intrude any longer? How could he claim hatred for Ranma, when all the boy ever did was help him? Sometimes even at direct personal deficit as a consequence!

For a time, he'd remained with Akari on her farm. The girl was not Akane. What he felt for her was… different. Akane _cared_ for him. Made him feel comfortable and safe when no one else could. Akari was… completely different. Comparing her to Akane was comparing an ocean to a sky. Both vast and blue and deep, and both grafted of completely different material. Akari was... different. Instead of feeling safe, his joy came from making _her_ feel safe. Came from comforting _her!_

She needed comfort as well. Her father had died, quite unsuspectingly and when he'd first arrived several days after Akane's revival, the brown haired pig farmer had grappled him in a hug so mournful and morose that he'd been compelled to bring her the same comfort he'd so desperately always wanted.

And he'd… found it. She made him feel warm inside. He didn't know why it had never happened before but, that day, something between him and the pig farmer had changed _drastically._

Then, the thoughts had started.

The sick thoughts. Dark thoughts.

It wasn't long before Ryoga had left the farm, fearing what he might do if these sickening things his mind kept summoning to his conscious were to ever leak loose. Akari could tell that something was wrong with him and, albeit reluctantly, she let him go. Whatever these thoughts were, on the outside they were giving him terrible headaches, but next to what the thoughts actually consisted of, Ryoga barely noticed them.

And they had centered entirely and unrelentingly around Ranma.

Ranma-chan, in particular.

He shuddered inwardly, feeling his stomach convulse, abhorring the scene playing out in his mind. The shock, created by the scene and how vividly detailed it was, dropped his jaw. He shook his head fiercely fighting a desperate battle to reign in the newfound evil tendencies his mind wanted to implement.

"I've _got_ to fix this…" He thought. That was why he was here. He'd found out after returning quite by accident really, to Nerima, that Ranma had been severely injured. The good side of him, the side that he was trying to bring out, grieved in worry. Ranma, _was_ his friend! The best sparring partner he'd ever met and… and… despite their history Ranma was a _good_ person. If a little stupid.

The other part of Ryoga though, the twisted part... giggled at the mere _thought_ of Ranma's pain. It wasn't like he used to. Not like his previous lust for vengeance. This was different. This was a mad glee driven only by the purest hatred and lust he had ever felt.

It was making bile rise in his throat. Staring at the redhead, now completely silent, his imagination saw her naked. Saw her screaming as he _laughed_ down at her. In reality, he'd never seen a girl so terrified.

He shook his head furiously to clear the thoughts and, surprisingly, they abated. Though he doubted that would last. Despite his time in the purifying waters of the ancient temples of Tibet where he had been for the past fortnight, the thoughts were coming faster now. And, now, they weren't just about Ranma either.

Random people he'd seen, or photographs or videos. All of them had twisted submissive roles to play in his corrupted mind. Ranma. Nabiki wrapped in chains. A-Akane… Akane begging him for mercy.

Even… even Akari.

It was a rare thing for Ryoga Hibiki to be afraid. Now, he was terrified of his own mind. He_wasn't_ like this! 'What the hell have I become?'

He'd speculated that whatever was causing these vile thoughts, was foreign. Like a… a curse or something.

But he was rapidly beginning to fear that he truly was as twisted as his thoughts seemed to imagine.

"Hey, Sir Spamsalot! You okay?" Ranma asked quite suddenly, pulling him from his abysmal thoughts.

_Instantly, _he giggled in his head at the thought of vengeance for those words. She would rue the day she'd wronged him! He'd _enjoy_ feasting on he—!

He realized with a start that he had advanced forward a few paces. Akane was sitting at the foot of the bed, her legs folded haphazardly beneath the long skirt she always wore. Ranma, dressed in one of those strange hospital gowns, her hair hanging down in a twisted array of stale three-days-dirty freefall. She still looked beautiful. Gorgeous even. She always did. Even when she was being a jackass.

…

Even when she was screaming in terror.

He shook that thought out of his mind, but it wouldn't let go.

"I… I don't think so… Ranma." Ryoga strained. The simple act of addressing the redhead by her given name alerted her to that. Something was definitely wrong. His fingers twitched, aching to close around her throat, but he held them back.

"R-Ryoga?" She asked, sitting up a bit more to stare into the lost boy's eyes. She was unafraid. Not even the slightest bit of cowardice. He wanted to paint the fear of him into her features permanently!

'No!'

He hurled himself away from the girl, her curiosity and growing worry plain on her face, stumbling back a few paces. "I… I need to go. I'm sorry Ranma! I… Something's wrong with… I gotta go!"

"Ryoga…?" The redhead repeated. She didn't even have a clue!

Ryoga dashed out of the room, leaving his ex-rival and the youngest Tendo to stare at his retreating form.

* * *

Ranma undressed slowly. Her chest still hurt even three days after she'd awakened. Not surprising really, but it made her breathing uneasy and… slick if that was a word that could be used to describe breathing. It had been called a miracle. She knew it was. She'd known she was dead as soon as she'd felt those burning claws rake into her chest. That she was alive right now was a miracle in every sense of the word. 

She glanced around the locker room at the array of stares the girls were directing at her. At her chest in particular. The star-pointed pattern of burned scars imbedded deep within her skin did little for her once unmarred figure. They were quite unflattering, and did not enhance the beauty her naked form had once attained in the least. They were… blackened holes, or so it seemed, sewn together somehow, through magic.

She knew it was magic. It could only be that.

And she now had a significant reason to believe that Hotaru… what was her last name again? Hotaru To… To-something, was the mysterious Sailor Moon.

The prospect was nigh on unfathomable. Their body types were completely off! Sailor Moon was only a mere inch or two taller than herself, while Hotaru was well over a foot! Sailor Moon had the longest hair she'd ever seen, outing even shampoo, while Hotaru had a cropped, short sluice of black hair.

But… how else could it have been done? Sailor Moon had magic, and she was all about love and justice and all that crap. Maybe she had healing powers? Maybe she'd… _disguised_ herself as Hotaru? That was the only explanation for it. She didn't know anyone else with the ability to heal. Well, there was Cologne but Ranma hadn't seen her in quite some time.

The truth is, Sailor Moon was the only person Ranma knew who might have the ability to bring someone back from the brink of death she had been on.

Ranma felt comforted by this, just as she silently resented her for it. She wasn't some baby that needed a magical girl looking over her shoulder all the time! But… it was nice… to have someone who cared like that. To know that _someone_ wanted her alive. She disregarded the feelings that abruptly rushed through her at that thought, bringing her eyes back into focus and finding that the stares were no longer directed at her, now that she had her clothes back on.

Thank god for that.

The locker room, currently sparsely decorated with about ten or eleven girls, was quite uncluttered at the moment, and Ranma was glad. She felt free from the normal claustrophobic atmosphere the locker room usually provided. The school, bastards that they were, saw fit to provide a mere three by five meter locker room bunching up girls to where they were practically connected at the shoulders while changing, lest they wait in line for one of the stalls.

Quite unnerving for her.

"R-Ranm— Ack!!" Came a shriek as Miyataki burst through the small crowd, tripping over a stray limb and falling flat on her face as she tried to get to the red-head.

Ranma beamed in mirth. It took a lot to acquire her laughter these days but… Miyataki was damn good at it. Even when she wasn't trying.

The girl grinned sheepishly, rising from the floor, her eyes trained thoroughly on her feet in embarrassment.

"Hey Miya." Ranma stated, the shorter nickname rolling off her tongue in a friendly manner. She'd found that since her return on Tuesday, the girl had been almost overcompensating in her care. Miyataki had visited the hospital no less than eight times in the three days she had been incapacitated.

While it seemed the entire school had come to visit at least once, no one had shown as much concern as Miyataki had. The girl had been practically frantic at the impending death of her newfound friend. The concern radiating from the girl when she'd rushed in not two minutes after Akane had departed was almost palpable in the room.

The sensation made Ranma feel warm, in almost the same way Sailor Moon did but without the added aggravation of being babied. She'd never had someone cry on her shoulder in worry for her before. Well. Not really. She supposed Akane had done so once or twice. But Akane was different. With Akane, the tears had been for a more… sensational reason; Miyataki's was just simple friendship. Something that the girl seemed to covet and respect above all other things. She had many friends and the girl _cherished_ them. Once a friend, _always_ a friend.

Ranma's grin brought Miyataki her own as she finished approaching the redhead. The girl was half naked and it irked Ranma that she didn't seem to care. To her, Ranma was a girl. It didn't matter that she was once a boy, or that she was forced to look away lest someone bring attention to the immense attraction she felt. Her cheeks had a tendency to flush quite a bit in the locker rooms but she managed to keep it to a minimum. At the same time, though, that too made her feel accepted.

"Hey, you okay, baka? What're you in such a hurry for?" Ranma asked, giving Miyataki a scolding frown.

Miyataki flinched a bit but plowed into her speech almost instantly. "I… I got asked out on a date, Ranma-chan." She said. She seemed… frightened. Not nervous. Afraid.

Ranma tilted her head. "So?" She questioned. "Who?"

Miyataki fidgeted. "Daisuke. But… I'm afraid, Ranma. I… I know you got hurt real bad on your date and… Well… there's rumor's going around about the 'You-Know-What.' I'm… worried."

Ranma was mildly surprised. Last he'd talked to Daisuke, the boy had been head over heals for some girl named Tsubasa. Not the cross-dressing idiot always hanging around Ukyo. A different one. But she disregarded that. "Abou… wait. You're worried about getting attacked?" Ranma was incredulous. Everyone knew the chaos that surrounded Nerima in particular, surrounded _her._

"Well… in the Juuban ward, you know, where the Senshi first showed up? There were rumors about the youma and demons attacking specific groups." She stated, dropping into somewhat of a know-it-all tone.

"Groups?" Ranma repeated.

Apparently, or so Ranma had been informed, a pseudo Senshi of some sort dressed in black, had been the one who sent the demon dog that had attacked her in the park. She remembered no black Senshi but she didn't think he'd just make that up.

The girl nodded vigorously. "Yeah. Couples. I… I think that maybe this… Black Senshi was behind all of it! We heard about Beryl being killed, but what if she wasn't the only one? There've been more attacks over in Juuban so…"

Ranma thought she knew where this was going. "You want me to go along and make sure nothing happens?"

Miyataki gave a heavy smirk. "Not quite."

Ranma's chest tightened. Now she _did_ know where this was going.

The girl bent over, and held out a finger, wagging it back and forth. "Tsk Tsk. I've seen that you've been avoiding Hiroshi for the past couple of days, ever since you got back. You know he visited you even more than I did!? Daisuke almost as much. The only person there more was Akane, you know?"

Instantly, Miyataki realized that _that_ had been the wrong thing to say.

Ranma felt like she'd been hit in the gut. "Akane was there… more?" She asked. "H-how many times did she visit?" Ranma asked, trying to keep the edgy desperation out of her tone and failing miserably. She hadn't thought that Akane had visited much. Sure, the girl had been frantic when she'd awakened but so had everyone else who visited afterwards.

"She… W-well… it'd be easier to count the number of times she left the hospital, but that's not what's important!" The girl said, talking fast so as to dissuade the red-head from thinking to much about Akane. Miyataki knew from experience that thinking about how an ex still cared was never productive in moving on. And that's what Ranma needed to do.

Move on.

"What I was wondering was if you could… well… could you and Hiroshi double date with us tonight? I know you've been lonely again… so… could you?" She asked in that insufferably cute way every girl except Ranma herself seemed capable of pulling off.

Ranma hesitated. "T-tonight? Uhm… I… I kinda got a… thing tonight." It wasn't common knowledge that she was seeing a psychiatrist. Actually, it wasn't known knowledge at all. No one knew. Not her parents. Not her rivals. Not her friends. And definitely not her ex-fiancées.

"How 'bout tomorrow?" Miyataki asked, not skipping a beat. "C'mon, Ranma! I… I really like him! I… well… I just…" The girl trailed off in a piteously dim mumble.

Ranma tried not to drop her jaw in surprise. "Y-you do? Heh. And here he thought no one liked him." She mused to herself.

The girl nodded the affirmative. "I… I've liked Daisuke for… since junior high at least, but I never had the guts to talk to him. Th-then yesterday, out of the blue he suddenly came up to me! All nervous like he always is but… We'd started talking in the waiting room at the hospital."

Ranma brought her hand to her chin to run it through the peach fuzz that no longer existed there.

"Please?"

Ranma twitched. "I… I guess… tomorrow."

"Thanks Ranma! You're the best! And you'll have fun, too! I know it!" And the girl was gone.

Ranma sighed. Another date with Hiroshi. It wasn't like she hadn't had fun on their last date. But… its rather spectacular end had her on the wary side, too. Better to err on the side of caution and all that. The last thing she wanted was one of those dogs attacking Miyataki. What could it hurt?

Oh right.

This would mean she would have to ask _him._

Damn.

* * *

The long search for the ever-illusive Sailor Moon had not ended in the months since she had disappeared. No, they had, if anything, grown even _more_ vigilant. There were a few sightings of the girl here and there, usually around the Nerima ward, the Minato ward, or the distant Juuban ward from where she originated. 

Now was one of those rare times Moon graced her home district with her presence. The people were ballistic to see her, but she ignored them, racing faster than any of them could hope to catch. She had not given up. She would not be returning to her parent's house. But she had something she needed. Someone she needed. Someone she'd needed for a long time.

While the reason Moon was searching for the cat was completely business, she… missed the fur-ball. She hoped fervently that she could take Luna and Artemis with her. But that all depended.

"Luna?" She whispered. "Luna, are you here?"

No one answered. She glanced around the menagerie of articles that belonged to the girl called Usagi Tsukino with displeasure. She could hardly believe that she once was this girl. Photographs of an innocent girl laughing with friends. Hearts in her eyes over some idiot boy who was equally immature.

Not Mamoru.

Her old pajamas. She couldn't recall the last time she'd worn pajamas. Sleeping in a bra and panties was infinitely more comfortable, not to mention much easier considering her place of residence. Changing into pajamas every night would be tiresome. Add to that the fact that certain ants had a strange and unnerving attraction to nylon… no… her pajamas were a thing of the past.

Many things were things of the past.

More photographs decorated the walls, though very few were of any real value to her now. She couldn't remember_any_ of the names of the boys plastered across her walls staring down at her like forgotten idols, long dusted over from lack of worship. The few that mattered to her were of family.

She scanned the room heatedly but found nothing. No hint of the cats, nor did she find any clues that would lead her to believe they had been here in some time. The cats had left Sailor Moon's old home quite some time ago.

Suddenly, her eyes scanned her bed, perfectly made as it never had been in her old life, and found a small wristband, that gave the semblance of a watch. Her old communicator.

Unexpected tears began to well behind her eyes but she made sure to hold them back. What the hell had she been training for, if nothing more then a few memories of talking to her friends over those watches could send her into a bawling fit?!

She shook herself and fastened the communicator to her wrist so tightly it bruised, but she did not care.

"Luna. Luna, answer me." She said, once she finally recovered her composure.

"_Usagi!"_ Came the jovial voice of the little black cat. More memories welled, but she crushed them.

"Usagi is gone, Luna."

"Whatever you idiot!" The cat screeched back in an raucous hiss. Then her voice dropped almost instantly to a tearful relief. "I'm just… so glad to see you! I… wh-where are you? You're old house?"

Sailor Moon nodded. "I need to talk to you, Luna. About the pens."

Luna flinched. "Th-the pens? What about them?" She asked, defensively.

"I need them. I don't want any more Senshi popping up out of the water works. No one else is going to die trying to defend me." She said, her voice, ice.

"B-but Usagi! I—!"

"Sailor Moon, Luna. Usagi is gone." She repeated once again.

Suddenly a voice echoed in the background. _"Usagi!?"_

Moon's eyes widened. No… Luna wouldn't. There's no way that she would tell Naru… there was no way!

Instantly, Luna was picked up and thrown out of the way. Moon found herself face to face with Usagi's red-headed best friend from the past. Freckles gleaming with tears as they streamed down her face. "Usagi! It's you!"

Moon couldn't help the stutter that came to her lips. Luna surely wouldn't do this! Surely not! "N-Naru! Wh-what are you doing?"

Naru wiped her eyes tearfully, "I'm so glad… We've been so worried about you… me and Umino. L-Luna told us everything and we—!"

"Luna!" Moon roared into the communicator.

"Y-yes, uhm… Sailor Moon?" Came an uncharacteristically timid voice from the background.

"Why would you do this! Why could have possibly possessed you to—!"

"She's Sailor Saturn, Usagi!" Luna interrupted. "So it's okay! We just want to help you!"

And Moon's heart sank to the floor. She'd found Uranus, and realized that if she left the cat to herself, that this would happen. But… not Naru. Not sweet, innocent Naru. No… she couldn't let her go through what her friends had.

'Makoto… Minako… she'll hate me for this… She'll hate me.' Moon thought. 'But I can't let her do what you did. If anyone dies fighting, it's going to be me.'

"No! I don't want her to be a Senshi!" She shouted into the small watch.

If Luna was shocked, Moon couldn't see it. All she could see was Naru. Her face screaming with hurt as Moon yelled at the black cat hidden somewhere behind her.

"Take it away! Take the pen back! I'll not have Naru as a Senshi! I'll not have her—!"

With a jolt of shock, she felt one of her wires tripped.

A demon was attacking in Nerima.

Her eyes narrowed, the communicator fell to the bed, and speed untold graced her feet. Naru would have to wait.

* * *

Aiga laughed heartily as he let his arm drift around Ukyo. The girl was a treasure. She was perfect! Beautiful, funny, smart, and best of all, not naggy like most girls. 

Ukyo looked at the arm for a few moments as if, unsure about whether its placement should be allowed or not. After a few tense moments where their laughter subsided, the girl grinned.

They were sitting on park bench amid the beauty of a late spring day. Blossoms sprouted everywhere of all different types. All was green and the sun was almost smiling down at them. Aiga couldn't remember a day better spent. He recalled Nioma from several nights ago and found that, strangely, he would rather be here in the park with Ukyo then lying with Nioma in bed.

She was more beautiful… that was part of it. But not nearly all. She was… amazing. Aiga couldn't fathom why Ranma had never gone after someone so… freely giving of joy.

They'd spent the whole day together, and then the next after school, and then, today, he'd met her here, also after school had ended. Talking. Just talking. Telling stories, most of his being lies with the hopes of impressing her though it seemed that wasn't needed. Her stories were far more interesting no matter how much he lied.

"You know, Aiga. I… I always thought you were just a huge pervert, that would do anything to get into a girls pants. It always ticked me off that you succeeded pretty often." The girl commented.

Aiga quirked an eyebrow. A small measure of guilt rose within him, and he twitched. Well… so that was true. So he had a healthy appreciation for the feminine form and liked to expose that. It's wasn't his fault that girls expected more of him!

"But… I guess I was wrong. A little at least. After talking with you for a while… you're… a good person, Sugar." She said, that dreamy voice of hers echoing around his ears.

He twitched again, and more prominently. He'd attempted to coerce her into letting him into her room, or bringing her to his several times and more already, though he did it in subtle ways that she never seemed to catch. Or perhaps she was just disregarding them. The lies he'd made up weren't exactly new ones either, but he hadn't used them very often. Stupid little stories of his past that gave girls that little sympathetic 'aww' look, that made them want him.

Some of them were even true, like the one where he saved his grandmother from a fire a few years back. That was a better story then half the lies he'd come up with.

But… something was wrong.

"And you're… pretty attractive too." She murmured. Suddenly, she laid into him, her head thumping lightly against his chest.

She snuggled. "And warm."

Well… that didn't make him twitch. But Aiga was beginning to feel quite guilty, over some of the things he'd said.

"Sure, you lie about half your stories, and even though you just want to sleep with me… There's something about you that wasn't there before…" Ukyo continued with her evaluation.

Aiga's eyes widened. "Wh-what!? When did I say that?" He shouted pushing the girl away from him so he could look into her chocolate brown eyes.

"You didn't. I just know. But… for some reason… I… don't mind." She whispered huskily, as her face moved close to his ear. "I… I think I want you, just as much as you want me."

He _did_ want to sleep with her! Very much so! But… that wasn't _quite_ all he wanted. That had been all he'd wanted a few days ago, but now… Aiga could feel the girl's warm breath on his ear, making him shiver in delight. His thoughts raced miles a minute. _She_ just wanted _him_ for sex? No! Wait… was that good? He tingled warmly and decided, if that was all he could get…

"Just looking at you makes me… feel good… like I need you, Aiga." Ukyo moaned, her voice weak.

Aiga was stunned. Not by the intent, but by the words. They were the exact same words Nioma had used. The same words Sorinayuga had used. The exact same. Same tone. Same lilt. Same… everything.

And his conscience burned, as realization coursed through him. Meneloth. Pleasure. He was _giving_ them pleasure. But how?

Those two girls from the night before had never wanted him before. Never. They'd hated him, well, Nioma had, as he didn't really know her friend, but he had always subconsciously known that. Deep down it had tugged at him so he'd always taken it out on the girl, repeatedly asking her for dates, knowing she'd never say yes. He'd done it just to annoy her. But something had made those girls want him… Something was_forcing_ Ukyo to want him now.

He'd… raped them. And now he was about to do it again. Ukyo was devoted to Ranma. She'd had been for so long… there was no way that she could change this quickly even though Ranma was no longer available. Ukyo had hated him too.

Aiga had never slept with a girl who had not been willing. He didn't use alcohol or drugs. He was _better_ then that and the action sickened him. If he was to get a girl in the sack, she'd better damn well _want_him there of her own free will.

Not till' Nioma and Sorinayuga. Despite the fact that he hadn't known he'd been doing something… or he'd refused to believe, his through choked up with unparalleled guilt.

Sure… he lied to get that willingness from the girl's he'd been with, but… This was… wrong.

"U-Ukyo… I'm sorry… I… can't do this." He sighed, taking her by the shoulders once more and pulling her away.

In doing so, he managed to catch a glimpse of something behind them.

Something… dangerous.

In an instant, he grabbed Ukyo and flung himself off the bench, just before gigantic claws cut through the wood he'd been sitting on.

"Wh-what the hell is that thing!?" He heard someone shout.

He turned, and stared up, Ukyo atop him, at a gigantic dog, bigger than even he was. It drooled sickeningly and its teeth snapped viciously at a wooden plank lodged between them. The bench was smoldering. The metal pieces on it were melting in an aura of heat that Aiga could feel scalding his skin.

Ukyo began screaming and he heaved the girl over him as far from the dog as he could. "Ukyo! Get the hell outta here!" He demanded, scrambling to his feet. He felt glad that his first thought had been, not for himself, but for Ukyo.

Maybe… maybe she was more to him then he'd even thought.

The dog snapped, finally severing the wood plank in two. Then it's deep blue black fur flamed, becoming burning skin, eyes red as the sun.

Aiga froze in terror. His limbs would not move, and the sweat pouring down his face had turned to ice despite the scalding heat he could feel as the dog approached, seemingly in slow motion.

Without warning, a gigantic metal spatula slammed into the dog's face, sending it flying back a few meters, it's burning paws skidding along the ground leaving trails of burned grass and concrete. The pressure of the strike alone knocked Aiga off his feet as well.

"Aiga. You can't handle this. You need to run." Ukyo said, turning half back to him, as she bent the twisted end of her spatula back into place.

"I-I… I can't just…" Aiga tried to stammer. Martial artist he was not, but nor was he a coward!

Ukyo smiled, offering him down a hand. "Thanks for saving me, sugar. Though when I find out what sorta drug you've been using on me the last few days, I swear you're dead."

Aiga gulped and took the hand, rising to his feet. Obviously the danger had stopped whatever it was that he had been doing to the girl. And… he was somewhat glad for that.

"I'm not going!" Aiga replied, angrily. "I'm no coward!"

The dog, finally recovered, fixed its eyes on the wielder of the baker's peel with ferocious intent, drooling. With a shiver, Aiga saw that the drool leaking from the twisted being's mouth was melting the grass it landed on into a sickening green mush.

'Acid…' He thought.

The flaming hound bounded at the long-haired girl, hissing steam and fire leaking from its putrid maw.

Ukyo dodged to the left and the dog followed instantly. Bounding into the air the chef sent a flurry of tiny spatulas reigning down and cutting into the dog's burning hide.

It barely seemed to notice, as it followed the girl into the air.

Ukyo landed on a tree branch launching another useless barrage of spatulas into the following dog. As it reached her, she jerked herself down to the ground, the dog's claws, black as midnight, sticking into the old wood of the tall tree.

The dog howled it's fury as it ripped its claws in an explosion of tree bark, but not fast enough for it to escape the explosion of one of Ukyo's okonomiyaki bombs.

It flew down, it's fire not near extinguished and crashed into the ground leaving a deadening crater, but in an instant it stood once more.

"What the hell is this thing made of? Steel!?" Aiga shouted. He wanted to help! But what could he do? He glanced around, desperate for something to assist Ukyo with.

"Dammit, Aiga! Get out of here!" Ukyo screamed. The dog was already barreling towards her again.

In the distance, Aiga noticed something. He rushed away. He would help! Dammit he would!

In her heart, Ukyo felt a pang of hatred rush through her, as Aiga sprinted away, not even looking back. Stupid bastard…

She parried the dog's next leap with the butt end of her baker's peel, diverting its momentum into the air. Then and huge uppercut swing slammed into its body sending it flying across the green grass. Her spatula shattered into two pieces and her hands wrung with the effort of the mighty blow.

The dog landed, not fifteen paces away, abused and disoriented, but recovering as fast as he had from the bomb. What could kill this thing!?

Whipping out a gigantic batter pot, and pulling almost forty of her small spatulas into work at once her hands flashed with an unholy edge moving at speeds she thought even Ranma might have trouble with.

The burning beast was ready to engage yet again, and rushing towards her in that same stupid charge.

She grit her teeth. Her arms burned with the effort of breaking her giant spatula, and her heart did too, knowing that it was more than just a large weapon. Her heirloom was destroyed. But that didn't matter now; she had to concentrate!

Closer. Five paces, the dog leapt once more, but it was finished. Ukyo had him.

"_Batter Dragon!"_ She screamed into the boiling spring day.

A golden dragon of okonomiyaki batter blasted forth from her raging hands, roaring. The dog didn't even stand a chance as its eyes widened in its last moments. And then, the batter encased him, smothering the fire, moments before she lost sight of the beastly form.

The dragon flew into the sky, howling its fury in a great circular arc. Then it turned, and slammed itself towards the ground with all the force of an animalistic sledgehammer.

It exploded against the concrete sidewalk running through the park sending its batter-created body in all directions, leaving naught more then a crusty baked corpse of the dog that had attacked them.

Ukyo was breathing miles a minute as she dropped to a knee.

"It's over…" She sighed. "God… It's…"

Before she could even think, paws slammed into her shoulders clamping around them sending her flying back into the grass. She looked up into the endless array of teeth barred by the still living though, now unlit hellhound.

"What does it take to kill you, bastard!" She shouted hatefully into its deadly eyes. She'd kill it if it was the last thing she did!

The dog's teeth jutted forward and she jerked her head to the right. The dog ate dirt as she pulled yet another two tiny spatula from her belt and shoved their sharp bladed points into the thing's exposed sides. It didn't even react, the sharp blades bending and breaking on the steel like skin of the beast. It was still biting at the dirt. Seemed it had a strange weakness to getting things caught in its jaws.

Suddenly and gigantic 'boom' echoed above her and she froze, gulping as the beast was thrown off her with an impact more resounding then even her baker's peel had been.

A huge four ton wrecking ball had just slammed into the dog, sending it sprawling across the ground. It had missed her by less then a foot.

Her heart skipped a beat as she saw who it was operating the demolition vehicle. He'd come back!

Still didn't excuse how close that ball had been to killing her though!

"You idiot! You could have killed me!" Ukyo shouted to Aiga, who was cheerfully manning the gigantic piece of machinery. It was a good thing the ward always seemed to be doing extra construction on this park! Or perhaps it was rebuilding, considering the usual level of damage incurred from regular fights. This was Nerima after all.

"Told you I'd help!" He shouted back. His father was a construction worker. If he knew anything, it was how to run heavy machinery.

Through his smiling, Aiga didn't notice the hound had changed its target. With an echoing screech of claws on metal, the door to his current mode of transportation was ripped from its hinges, leaving Aiga once again facing the snarling beast.

"What do you want!?" He shouted at the thing as it lunged into the door, its massive frame too huge to fit through. As if in answer, it lit once again, its black and blue fur igniting in a torrential rage of flame.

Aiga backed up as far as he could into the small compartment. He heard Ukyo screaming but she couldn't do anything. She could barely move.

'I… I have to do something!' He thought desperately.

He looked around the compartment, and found nothing of use. Wait! He picked up the gigantic socket wrench laying on the metal floorboard and hurled it at the beast, but it bounced off the things head with an almost comical hollow thunk, flying out of the wrecker.

"Dammit!" He shouted in frustration.

Without warning, he felt it surge through him. His power. His magic. The magic Akane had awakened within him. It was there… just a touch away but…

'Nooo… Aww come on…! Do I _have to?_' He whined in his head. This simply_couldn't _be the only way out! There had to be a—

He let out a cry of pain as one of the beast's claws raked through his arm.

"Fucker!" He bellowed, and then the scroll was there, held in his now bloody hand like it had been there from the start.

"_Meneloth Power Make-Up!" _

A burst of light blasted in a ring around him through the glass windows of the vehicle, and out the open door, blinding the dog in its pursuit, sending it tumbling, surprised, out of the door and to the ground.

Aiga felt again the magnificent power within her unleashed. The power that was hers by right. By birth. She shrunk in height, becoming smaller and more nimble. She felt her chest grow into breasts and then felt them be caressed in smooth black silk, her green fuku settling around her slim waist in tandem. The pain that had been searing her arm in agony was gone.

She was Meneloth.

She bounded out of the machine, landing on the opposite side of the once again recovering dog. If the dog's flames had been bright before, now they were a bonfire of light. She knew why. The dog fed on her power. Smelled it. Sought her out by it. That was why it was here. It wanted her magic.

It wouldn't have it.

"Hey puppy…" Meneloth cooed, running her fingers along her breasts in a deafeningly sexual manner, completely by instinct. Inside, Aiga was screaming in protest; she didn't _want_ to do this! But it was the only way. Her body seemed to know exactly what to do. She knew how to win this battle. And she would win. People didn't die while she was around. Especially not by some vile, burning, demon mutt.

The dog's eyes snapped to her, drool dripping from its angered maw. Instantaneously though, the anger left its eyes.

"Good Puppy… You feel that…?" She asked, knowing quite well what the dog was feeling, though having no understanding as to how. Pleasure was blurring through her body, though she could stave off the overwhelming rush gave her, and she instinctively protruded it to her target.

The great beast lulled swaying on its feet as if drunk. Ukyo watched in mute horror and disbelieving humor as the scene folded out in front of her. Not that she could help it, but her eyes were trained adoringly to the Senshi of pleasure, as waves after wave of intense heat filled her being.

"Now come here, my pet. My love. You want more…? Don't you?' Aiga's words egged the dog on and it drunkenly stumbled towards her.

Meneloth smiled as she, in turn walked towards the beast, her own steps only a slight bit wobbly despite the mind numbing pleasure. The creature's steps becoming more jagged and drunken by the pace, and soon she was upon it, but the dog made no move to strike. Its fires burned brighter then a thousand stars, and brightened still further with each step, but she did not turn back.

She knelt down and placed her hand across the dog's neck as it swayed, on the verge of toppling to its side. "Good little one. Good."

With a sigh, sweat pouring down her brow, she reached with her other hand into the valley between her breasts, blood still leaking from her arm, and pulled out two menacing looking daggers. 'What the hell are knives doing in my breasts!?' She thought, even as she juggled one of them to her other hand without a thought. The demon dog didn't even seem to notice, too drunk on the unbelievable pleasure Meneloth was granting to care.

"Good puppy…" She cooed one last time, before aligning her weapons to the sides of the beast's neck.

Then the dagger's blades met each other within the beast's throat.

The hideous demon fell to the ground, lifeless, its fire snuffed like a wax-less candle.

Meneloth sighed in relief, blood washing down her fingers. With dim comprehending and the loss of adrenaline, and the fading sensation of pleasure, she realized much of the blood was her own. "I… I did it…" She murmured. She jerked the daggers free of the corpse, twining them together and shakily placing them back in their pocket, after wiping them clean on the dogs pelt, feeling the strange sensation of their disappearance.

"Who the hell are you." Came a deep voice. It was not a question. It was a demand.

Meneloth stood, her hand, quivering in trepidation, both at what she had done, and what she had become, now that sense was flooding back in, and instinct, fading. She stood, wobbling and turned to face the voice, and found the holy picturesque vision of Sailor Moon staring her down, murder in her eyes.

"I… I…" She tried to say but she realized with sudden fear that her throat was dry.

A black haze filled her vision as she realized that blood was still gushing from her arm where the beast had clawed it. She realized that her consciousness was slipping and had been ever since the cut had been imbedded in her arm.

'Heh… there's my cosmic backlash…' she thought bitterly, staring up at the anger driven aura protruding from Sailor Moon.

To Ukyo's and Sailor Moon's horror, the girl collapsed, her Senshi uniform fading, to reveal a mangled and unconscious Aiga Nakamuya, blood trailing down his arm in a flowing river.

* * *

"How many are dead, Rubos?" Taimaat demanded, sitting on his golden commander's chair at the bridge of his ship. 

The sinister looking guardsman, personal guard to the once-queen Mairis, held his gaze steadily. He was the only one of her guard who had been able to do so, all those millennia ago. The rest had been killed. Weaklings."Eight Sir. Two in the Northern continent there, called America. Three in Europe, One in Tibet, a small place, just there. And two traversed the ocean to that small island called, Japan. They were both killed."

"Eight…" The Dark King sighed. "Eight. They are more prepared then I'd thought."

"It is so, my lord." The stalwart guardsman replied.

"Seems our first target is this… Europe. Mairis. We have business before I go. Ready yourself." He commanded.

The ex-queen almost tripped over herself as she stood and left her seat, undressing as she walked away, scrambling to please her master and husband.

Taimaat grinned. It was no matter if it took ten days or ten years. He would find her. And… torturing her mother had an appealing taste, as well as a way of lengthening his patience.

There would be vengeance. For the death of his son. For twenty thousand years of incarceration. Oh, there would be vengeance.

It was only a matter of time.

* * *

Ranma walked a bit nervously into the office of her psychiatrist. It had been some time since she had been here last, what with her being unconscious the previous Monday, but it felt good to again walk the halls of the Minato Ward's Hospital. She found solace here. Comfort. Relief from the pain living the lie she felt she was. 

"I'm sorry, my dear." The attendee, a young caucasian woman who looked to be in her early twenties with long blonde hair, said as she approached, alerting Ranma to a problem of some sort. "Aiko isn't here yet. I… don't know what's happened to her, but wherever she is, you can bet her beeper is going miles a minute."

Ranma shrugged. "I… I guess I'll wait then. She's okay, isn't she?"

The secretary shrugged. "She generally makes her own hours. Schedules her patients to whatever time she wants. Her job's pretty much self run and she doesn't really have a boss except for the Chief of Medicine and he trusts her. I'm sure she'll be in. She's never missed a patient before."

"O-Okay. Well… I didn't know if she knew… well… I wasn't here last week because I was in the hospital. I hope she doesn't think I just skipped." Ranma replied.

"Oh, it was you, Miss Ranma? I knew one of her patients was hurt. Poor woman was frantic! Rushed in here, grabbed her coat and a can of soda from her fridge, and rushed out like the world was ending. Said she had to get to the Hospital in Nerima, she did."

Ranma was always intrigued by this secretary. She had the most unusual way of talking, and a strange accent as well. Though she seemed just as genuinely cheerful as Aiko, unlike the doctor, this secretary always had baggy dead eyes that made her seem as if she never got any sleep. Regardless, she was still kind.

"Sh-she visited? I didn't know that…" Ranma beamed inwardly.

"Yeah, she did. Cancelled her other appointments too. Rescheduled them all so she could stay for two hours with you in Nerima. Never seen her get so worked up." The woman quipped. "Ah well. I'm glad you're okay, girl. Waiting room's up the hall on your left." Ending with a pointed finger down the intended hall, the woman walked off briskly, idly checking off things on a clipboard.

"She seems way too busy." Ranma mused idly.

She took a few steps in the direction of the waiting room when, without warning, the entrance door crashed open, and in walked Sailor Moon herself, in all her white and blue clad glory, moving three steps again faster then the secretary had been. A boy was held in her arms, blood trailing down her fingers as she held a gaping wound in his arm closed to slow the bleeding.

For a few moments Ranma was baffled by the unbelievable power that she felt rolling off the fuku-clad girl. It came in values exponential to her own and no matter how much she wished she could be otherwise, she was utterly awed.

Then she noticed the boy cradled in the Senshi's good arm. "Aiga!?"

She dashed forward and met the eyes of the uniformed maiden, concern flashing across her face. Sure, she hated Aiga but she didn't want him dead! Striding to keep up with the taller girl she fell into step behind her.

"Wh-what the hell happened!?" She exclaimed.

"He was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with definitely, the wrong clothes. I need a stretcher over here! Three siphons of gauze wrap and set up for a possible blood transfusion!" She shouted toward as passing nurse who was simply standing there, gawking.

"Move it!" She exploded, and the nurse leapt to obey.

"Dammit!" The Senshi muttered under her breath. "Why? Why do people keep getting hurt? I try so hard but… they keep getting hurt."

Ranma felt a pang of guilt for her earlier anger at the Senshi. She wasn't babying her. The truth was, this woman… this magical girl, wanted to protect everyone. And it seemed she was doing her damn well best to see that everyone was safe.

"U-Usagi…" Ranma tried, but flinched at the rebound.

"I swear to god if I hear that name one more time today I'm amputating an arm, and I don't care whose it is!" The blonde screamed, whipping her face around to Ranma and stopping for a moment.

'Okay!' Ranma jumped. Maybe she'd thought too soon.

A stretcher and the nurse from earlier seemed to materialize out of no where and Moon laid the unconscious boy down with all the gentleness a mother would give to a babe, still clutching the ripped arm together tightly.

"Make that a definite blood transfusion. I don't know his type. Someone will have to test." She barked. "His name is Aiga Nakamuya. He's from the Nerima ward, but I brought him here. This place was closer."

A doctor, a real doctor, turned around the corner to stand in the path of the Senshi and the stretcher. "Ma'am, who the hell are you, and what on earth are you wearing?" He asked in an extensively aggressive tone. Obviously not a big watcher of the news.

Or teen magazines for that matter.

"I'm the person keeping this kid alive, Doc Rekeshi. Now are you gonna stand there or you gonna help?" She barked again, her stride not halting a bit, forcing the man to move in beside her.

Ranma still followed, but she hung back. She knew little of healing. "Aiga…"

"Good, well, let go of his arm, let me take it from here." The man insisted, striding behind the Senshi with a practiced ease, gloves already on his hands.

Sailor Moon nodded and, both still walking, the doctor placed his hands over hers, holding the wound. She lifted her hands, while he squeezed. Blood covered them but she ignored it, as the stretcher continued without her.

"What happened? Is he okay!?" Ranma cried as soon as the girl turned around, bloodied hands at her sides.

"I think he'll be fine." She said curtly, her voice betraying little emotion. "And you… I wanted to talk with you."

Ranma blinked. "Why?"

"What attacked you? Was it a gigantic dog that lit itself on fire? Or was it a Black Senshi? Do you remember how the blood got all over the ground everywhere? I need to know everything." She demanded, staring Ranma straight dead in the eyes.

Ranma would never admit to the small amount of fear that raced up her spine at that terrifying glare, backed with an aura that could call meteors from the sky. But she did feel it. "I… It was a dog. A huge dog. I… killed it. After that I remember that I couldn't breath… choking on blood I think. Someone was trying to help me, scooping blood out of my mouth maybe, looking back, but I couldn't see. There… was nothing after that."

"Scooping blood…?" The Senshi mused. Perhaps the black Senshi had been in the wrong place at the wrong time then too? That would fit the actions of Aiga much better. He hadn't been sending that dog at anyone. It had been attacking him. Her… and Aiga was quite assuredly the black Senshi.

Perhaps she had been trying to help Ranma by fighting the dog and she'd killed it after Ranma had been attacked. Covered in the beast's blood already, the other Senshi would have looked terrifying to anyone. Especially hovering over Ranma scooping blood out of her mouth. Like some sort of sick black vampire.

Perhaps.

But then, perhaps this was all a trap to lure her into the open. She would take no chances. She would trust no one unless they proved themselves trustworthy. Aiga had to wake up. Immediately.

Like Ranma had.

"You… you killed it? How?" She asked. "I know you're strong… but this thing… It was practically made of steel." The Senshi told.

Ranma smirked. "I blew it apart."

Moon quirked an eyebrow but didn't question. She trusted Ranma, and generally if the girl said something was true she stood by it despite whatever type of evidence was posed against it.

"Thank you Ranma." She said, after she mused all the facts around in her mind. She turned and began to walk away. Aiko had an appearance to make. And Moon liked being Aiko. It was her most comely personality, and Ranma could probably use that right now.

She could too. She had to visit Naru soon. That wouldn't be fun. Not at all.

"Sailor Moon, wait!" Ranma cried, grabbing one bloody hand to stop the walking power bomb.

Moon turned, and looked back to Ranma. "Come with me." She said. We'll talk somewhere less out in the open."

People were beginning to notice that Sailor Moon herself had made an appearance. Many of the nurses and staff were now standing and gawking at her, or chatting excitedly. Some were getting brave and looking like they were about to approach. Luckily, her bloody hands kept them on edge. Sailor Moon seemed to have… changed a bit. Grown a bit more brutal.

She had hard eyes, too.

Ranma nodded. She followed the blonde girl, letting go of her arm and found herself led almost instantly into a girls' bathroom. It was strange, how well the girl seemed to know her way around this hospital. It was as if she knew the place intimately.

Ranma stepped past the Senshi, as she lingered by the door. Once it was closed, the blonde held her hands up to the cracks. Flowing through her hand, Ranma could feel the energy as it seeped into those cracks and glued the door closed.

Then she stood there, staring at the door. Slowly, the Senshi turned and strode into the room to a sink and began washing her hands clean of the blood.

"Uhm… Moon-chan…?" Ranma asked timidly. Something was wrong. Ranma could feel the oppressive waves of depression rolling off the Senshi of the Moon almost as prominently as she felt the waves of unimaginable power.

"Why, Ranma? Why does someone always get hurt… no matter how much I try to help? Why does someone always get hurt?" She asked as a small tear blanketed her eye. It did not fall though. She wouldn't let it fall. "I've done everything. Laid signals so I can know where and when any of them are attacking. All over Tokyo! All over! But I'm always too late… I didn't even know about yours until I saw it on the news!"

Ranma didn't know what to say. Didn't know what to think. "Y-you've… you've saved my life. Once at least. Granted, I'd'a been fine even without your help." Ranma said smugly. She realized quickly that being smug was definitely _not_ helping the girl and changed her tactic. "But… I… You can't protect everyone. N-not alone." Ranma stammered searching for the right words. She'd always hated it when girls cried. Even now that she was one.

Moon was almost desperate with loneliness. She failed at every turn. Mercury had always been the one to keep the team on top of things. Her computer could tell a youma was attacking before it even _thought_ about revealing itself. She just wasn't that good!

Not yet.

"You're wrong!_I_ can! I _know_ I can! I don't need the other Senshi's help! They can stay normal! They can live normal lives… so… so they don't die for me like…" She trailed off, staring into the mirror.

Silence gripped the room for a time, Moon's voice echoing off the ceramic tiles and drywalls. Ranma let it stay that way. Silent while Moon tried to come to terms with her own shortcomings. Then, she hopped up on the counter and leaned her back against the long mirror, eyes boring into the burdened Senshi.

"I thought that too, you know?" She murmured, she, too, not looking at the person she was speaking with. Her eyes had a distant look in them as if, seeing things Moon could not. "I thought I could protect everyone. Protect her… There was a girl I loved, and someone kidnapped her. I… we fought… It turns out that I could. No one died that day. But she hasn't spoken ever since… and I've… well… I lost something really important to me too."

'_Your manhood. Your fiancée. Fiancées. Your confidence. Your will to live, half the time.' _Moon mentally ticked off in her head.

"I figure I had it coming, looking back." Ranma said. "If I hadn't been so damn arrogant… I… I probably would have asked for help or…. Or something, you know!? Maybe then she would've…"

Moon cracked a wet eyebrow. As Aiko, she'd never heard this.

"Anyways," Ranma continued, seeming to realize the truth of her own words with surprise even as she said them. "What I'm sayin' is that I shoulda' known I couldn't fight him alone. That's all."

Moon sniffed, reigning her anger and loneliness in. "And when you were fighting that youma? The one who's hand I cut off? What was that? You should've known then, too!"

Ranma grinned. "What can I say? I'm one stubborn chick. I _hate _to lose… but it does happen." She clapped her arm around the Senshi's shoulder and found that she liked it there. "Look… I… I don't think you should stop what you're doing but… if help comes along… you should take it."

Moon was shocked by those words. As Aiko, she had never once heard Ranma refer to herself as a girl. Fitting that she should choose her own rather rude jargon to use on herself for the time. Maybe she was beginning to accept it. Maybe, Aiko really was helping her. Either way, it implied deep meanings that she used the most demeaning phrase that she ever used for girls on herself.

If she'd been Aiko at that moment, she'd have tried to act differently. But for once she was venting her own pain.

"But what if they die again!?" Moon shouted. "What if… what if I can't protect them again!? What if the people trying to help… die because I freeze, and can't do anything?"

Ranma arm moved across the slightly taller girl's shoulder, rubbing it with a friendly soothing hum of skin against fabric. The words, so difficult before, seemed to be simply coming now, as if they had always been there. Maybe it was an added bonus for being a girl. She was more in touch with her feelings or something like that… either way, she could feel when she was about to say something wrong. And right. It felt good, knowing what to say for once. Curiously, the words she chose were not hers, but her father's.

"Heh. Be a man! If you let fear get the better of you… _ever…_ then you've already lost." She quoted. "I'm guessing that you've found some of the other Senshi. After all there are at least four planets we've never seen. The more of you there are, the better chance of winning and beating whatever these… _things_ are."

"I… You don't understand." The girl sighed, still staring at herself in the mirror. "If I let them fight, they could easily die. And worse yet, they might die _because of me!_ I can't deal with that… not again. You just don't understand."

Ranma thought for a moment. She'd known many people. Friends, and enemies alike. But she'd never really… _lost_ anyone.

Not really.

"Maybe I don't." She replied. "But… they could still die because of you… So what better way to die then to die fighting?"

"In bed, with wrinkles?" Moon retorted, though the malice had left her voice, making it seem _almost _a joke. The wetness in her eyes was fading but the girl couldn't help but rub them despite having not let a single tear fall.

Ranma grinned and, with a shrug, remarked, "To each his own. I'd rather fight to _make sure_ I get old then have someone else do all the work for me!"

Moon couldn't help the small smile that came to her face. "You… are a rare person, Ranma."

"You have _no_idea." Ranma replied, glad that, for once, she'd managed to help someone instead of hurt them with her words.

For a moment, Moon was silent. She turned her face back to the mirror, staring into her own eyes. "I… just don't want anyone else to get hurt because of me." She sighed.

"Just because it happened once doesn't mean it'll happen again. Usagi." Ranma punctuated her name, attesting in part to her own bravery. That hadn't sounded like a false threat earlier.

Moon flinched. "I'm not…"

"Yeah. Ya are." Ranma interrupted. "I've heard the stories. You grew up as Usagi. And I still see a regular person sitting right behind that mask you always keep up. I've been seein' this shrink. She's helpin' me see stuff like this, more then she even knows. You've got a right to be normal, too."

Moon snapped her eyes to Ranma, but the sharp retort she had on her lips died instantly as she was struck dumb and speechless.

"Oh my… Go…"

There upon Ranma's forehead was a gleaming silver crescent moon, its points reaching for the sky.

* * *

"Who am I? What do you _mean _who am I? You know who I am!" Setsuna screamed. "I'm your daughter!" 

Aya Meioh turned a inquisitive eye to the girl. "Well… I must say you're the splitting image of me but I think I'd know if I'd had a daughter, my dear." She smirked with a wry grin.

"L-look! I know your mad at me for being gone so long but… I was… I was kidnapped! Honest!" Setsuna said, grabbing her mother's shoulders.

Aya's eyebrow raised. "I… I'm sorry for you my dear, but I think it would be better if you informed the police then me. I'm not kidding; I've never seen you before. If you would, kindly, leave my house, now?"

Setsuna's eyes widened. _"No."_

"Dad!? Dad, you… you remember me… right?" She asked, almost afraid of the answer.

The man was fuming. "I think _I'd _remember if I had a daughter too! Now, get out!" He bellowed.

Setsuna flinched. "You… you don't…"

His eyes burned, and Setsuna gulped. "A-alright."

She dashed out of her house's living room. As she departed the only thing she heard was a muttered, "kid's these days…"

'No… this can't be happening…' She thought, madly, wondering what she could do.

Saiya. Saiya would know what to do! Dashing down the crowded street, Setsuna lunged forward at a break-neck pace seeking her best friend's house.

Arriving there in what seemed seconds she pounded frantically on her friend's front door.

"Saiya! Saiya I need to talk to you!" She cried, still pounding relentlessly.

The door opened in short order and her smiling brown haired best friend answered the door. "Can I help you?" She asked.

"Seiya! Seiya my parents! They… they acted like they'd never met me before!" She exclaimed heatedly, trying to think her words through. Dammit! She was better than this!

"I… I'm sorry? No offense but, do I know you?" She asked, with a confused look on her face.

"_No… no no no…"_

"It… You don't remember me…?" She asked…. Plainly hoping against hope for the answer in the negative.

Seiya seemed reluctant. She wanted to answer that she knew the girl in front of her but, she for the life of her, did not. "I… I'm sorry. I've never seen you before, that I remember. And I think I'd remember hair like yours! It's beautiful."

Setsuna screamed in her mind, her eyes wetting as she backed away, off the porch. It was as if she was in some cheesy horror movie. Except it was real.

Kashi… Surely Kashi hadn't forgotten her! He… he might want to after what she'd done but… She had to be sure! She had to be!

She looked up, barely keeping the tears from falling out her eyes and turned, dashing away from the surprised girl's doorstep.

And there was Lio.

"You… I… what…." She tried to say, but found she had no words. She wanted to be angry. She wanted anger to flow through her. This man had _done_ something to her family! Her parents. Her best friend! But… her heart sped up at the very sight of him.

His arms folded over his stomach, he stood in her path staring at her, his eyes locking with hers and staring directly into every fiber of her being.

"They… don't remember you, my dear. None of them do. You are a thing of the future. There can be no memory of you by those who cannot see you as you are now." He said, somberly.

"I… No! That's not true!" She yelled at him.

Behind her, Seiya was still staring at them, mildly intrigued by an interesting looking conversation. Not worried like a friend would be.

'_It is true.'_Whispered the small voice in the back of her head.

"It is true." He replied. "You can hear them telling you the same right now. The gates know you. They _love _you, and hate your pain. But you must see."

"It's _NOT!"_Setsuna cried, tears now falling freely from her eyes, denial evident.

Lio strode forward and embraced the girl. She tried to protest but found that her arms had not strength next to his. She pounded his chest but he didn't even flinch.

"Why me! Why now!?" She screamed. "I'm not your damn plaything!" Even though she felt like it.

"I have no control over it. I brought you back through my gate to the world of the living. Then, your soul finds a babe to wrap itself it. The gates call you when your time comes."

"I didn't feel the gates calling me! Just you! You kidnapping me off the street!None of this would've happened if it weren't for _you!" _She screamed again, staring into his eyes.

"Everything would have happened anyways. You know this, Setsuna." He placated, but she would have none of it.

"Why! You could have let them call me then instead of just bringing me to them!" She bawled. Even as she yelled, she buried her face in his shoulder. Dammit, why was the stupid appendage so damn comforting!? She should_hate_ him right now!

"And let you develop further relationships? Let you become so close with your… Kashi, that when the day finally came that the gates called, you would die from the pain of him not remembering you? Setsuna! I'm not trying to hurt you!" He soothed. His words, firm as they were, were soothing.

'_He speaks true.'_The voice in her mind whispered.

"But… but I…"

"I love you, Setsuna. I've loved you for more eternities than you can imagine right now. Please… don't hate me. It is the _only_ way." He murmured.

His hands drifted over her head, hugging it close to his shoulder as she cried. His other hand found the small of her back and laid gently on it pressing the bawling girl still further to him. Hours she stood there in his arms, not even really noticing when her own drifted over his neck.

"I'll always be here for you, Setsuna. Always." He whispered, over and over into her ears as she cried.

And she believed him.

* * *

**End Chapter

* * *

Reviews are like money. The less you have, the more you want. **

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Till Next!

MB


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